The weekend brought more violence to Kabul this weekend, with German soldiers engaging in a firefight with Taliban militants in the region. During the melee, three German soldiers were killed and, also tragically, friendly fire from German troops killed six Afghan soldiers. The accident occurred in the Kunduz province, where the German military has already been criticized due to an airstrike last December that ended up killing 142 people, including many civilians. Central command confirmed the incident, though the number of Afghan troops killed was noted as five in their official report.
In the official report, German military leaders noted that the incident took place as German soldiers were in a rush to arrive to combat militants at roughly 7 P.M. when two civilian vehicles were noted. Commanding the vehicles to stop, the Germans opened fire when they failed to do so. It was only later that it was discovered that the vehicle carried Afghan troops and an investigation will occur shortly. Perhaps leading to the incident, German troops had been attacked shortly beforehand while conducting various missions near Kunduz.
General Murad Ani, the commander of Afghan forces in northern Afghanistan noted that his troop transports were returning to base after resupplying army and police units. Noted Ani, “I don’t know what these German troops fired on our soldiers.” Joerg Langer, a spokesman for German Central Command, said, “We obviously regret this incident very much,” but failed to disclose any further details or speak further on the matter, which is sure to cause rising tension between forces in the region.
