Afghan accusations
March 10, 2011
Police in northern Afghanistan have accused German Bundeswehr soldiers of killing a civilian woman and injuring another in an incident in Kunduz province on Wednesday.
"German soldiers patrolling in Durman area of Chardarah district started firing in the surrounding area," Gulam Mahidin, police chief of Chardarah district, told the German news agency dpa. "As a result of the firing, an Afghan woman was shot and killed and another injured."
Mahidin said the woman was inside her house when she was shot in the head and killed, and that the German military had reported being under heavy fire.
"But according to our reports, there were no firefights and German soldiers made a mistake," he said.
Under investigation
A Bundeswehr spokesman told dpa on Thursday that the incident was under “intensive” investigation, but said it still had not been proven that the women were shot by German soldiers.
According to the spokesman, the soldiers were on patrol when they came under fire, to which they retaliated. Only later did they come across the woman with head injuries, which they said were not caused by gunshots.
The woman was taken to see a German doctor at a field hospital, but later died of her injuries.
Author: Martin Kuebler (dpa)
Editor: Michael Lawton