KSK involvement?

The German daily Bild Zeitung has published a report based on sources from German military circles saying that members of a German elite task force were involved in the ordering of the September airstrike near Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, which killed up to 142 Afghans, including civilians.

The taskforce, codenamed 'Taskforce 47', was reportedly made up in part of soldiers belonging to the Kommando Spezial Kraefte (KSK), or the German Special Forces Command.

Colonel Georg Klein, who was in charge of security of the German military base near Kunduz, was reportedly in consultation with at least five officers before ordering the airstrike; all five of these officers belonged to 'Taskforce 47'. It remains unclear if any of these soldiers were part of the KSK.

On the night of September 3, Colonel Klein received first notification from an unnamed informant that two fuel tankers had been hijacked by the Taliban in close proximity to the German military base near Kunduz.

'Taskforce 47' then set up a reconnaissance mission using an American B1-B bomber. The pilots found the fuel tankers some 90 minutes after they had begun searching - around six kilometers (3.7 miles) away from the German military base.

On September 4th, after receiving confirmation from the informant that at least four members of the Taliban had been involved in the hijacking, Colonel Klein called in the airstrike.

Former defense minister aware of KSK involvement?

NATO has questioned German officers, including Colonel Klein, extensively to ascertain the details of the attack, and the identity of the informant, but at this point this information remains confidential.

According to Bild, former Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung was aware that the KSK was involved in the attack - but withheld the information.

Jung was forced to resign his new post as labor minister last month after it had surfaced that he had withheld information regarding civilian casualties caused by the airstrike. The head of the German military, Wolfgang Schneiderhahn, was also forced to give up his post.

Initial defense ministry reports said some 30 people were killed in the airstrike, without mentioning civilian deaths. NATO reports issued thereafter, however, identified up to 142 deaths, including civilians. At this point, an official death toll has not been confirmed.

Germany's new defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, has also encountered problems regarding the airstrike. After assuming office in September, he argued to German parliament that the airstrike, though technically flawed, was "definitely militarily appropriate."

Some three weeks later, after the reports had surfaced suggesting that high-ranking officials had attempted to cover up the details of the attack, he reversed his position and called the airstrike "militarily inappropriate."

At this point, no member of the German defense ministry, including Minister zu Guttenberg, has confirmed the role of the German Special Forces Command in the ordering of the attack.

According to reports, a spokesman for Guttenberg has said that the defense ministry is looking into the role of 'Taskforce 47' in the attack. No mention was made, however, whether KSK soldiers were involved in the attack.

Opposition wants a full accounting

Meanwhile, opposition politicians are demanding to know exactly who knew what and when.

"It is high time that we learn what reports about Kunduz exist and when they were submitted to the minister," said Green party defense expert Omid Nouripour.

"The promise that we would be well-informed was not kept," the Social Democratic Party's spokesman for defense policy, Rainer Arnold, told the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger for its Friday editions. "It raises the question of whether the KSK as a whole unit was used. That's what we want to know."

glb/svs/AP/dpa/AFP
Editor: Trinity Hartman