Afghan airstrike roils German politics

BERLIN, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A deadly Afghanistan airstrike ordered by a German commander has roiled Germany's election campaign and sparked calls for an investigation, observers said.

Pressure has mounted on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung in the wake of an incident last week in which at least 90 people -- including an unknown number of civilians -- were killed when a German military commander with NATO-led coalition forces ordered a U.S. airstrike on what was believed to be a gathering of Taliban militants in Kunduz province, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said lawmakers demanded to know why the German military, which is normally restricted to peacekeeping duties in Afghanistan, was ordering airstrikes and why Jung at first insisted the attack killed only Taliban forces while later acknowledging that civilians were among the dead.

German prosecutors were considering whether to bring homicide charges in connection with the incident, which U.S. and NATO officials say was based on the information of a single Afghan informant and indistinct video footage, the Post said.

German military leaders were reportedly upset at the criticism leveled at them by the public and by NATO.