ECHR backs Germany over probe into lethal Kunduz air attack

Strasbourg-based court rejects complaint by Afghan citizen over Germany’s handling of investigation into 2009 incident.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Germany thoroughly investigated a 2009 NATO bombing in Afghanistan that was ordered by a German commander and killed dozens of people. The decision by the Strasbourg-based court on Tuesday rejected a complaint by Afghan citizen Abdul Hanan, who lost two sons in the attack, that Germany did not fulfil its obligation to effectively investigate the incident. The air attack was ordered by the commander of NATO troops in Kunduz, Georg Klein, who called in a United States fighter jet to strike two fuel trucks near the city of Kunduz which NATO believed had been hijacked by Taliban fighters.