Afghanistan

08/29/2008

Three Afghan Civilians Dead

Police Chief Accuses German Soldiers of Shooting

An Afghan police chief has accused German soldiers of killing two children and a woman in Kunduz after opening fire on a civilian car that didn't slow down at a checkpoint. Berlin has not yet confirmed the details of the incident but says the matter is being investigated.

German soldiers stationed in Afghanistan opened fire on a civilian vehicle after it failed to slow down for a checkpoint in northern Kunduz province, Kunduz Chief of Police and Security Abdul Rahman Aqdash told SPIEGEL ONLINE on Friday. The incident occurred just before 10 p.m. on Thursday, according to official reports.

Aqdash says two cars of the same make approached the checkpoint from the north. One turned around just before the checkpoint and the second followed suit at the last moment. Security forces made up of German ISAF soldiers and Afghan police thought they were dealing with drug dealers or members of the Taliban. Aqdash claims that German soldiers then opened fire on the back of the second car. The driver survived, but two children and one woman were killed.

The German Defence Ministry of has not yet confirmed the allegations in all of their details. Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe said Friday that security forces had killed three and injured three more when a vehicle failed to slow at a checkpoint -- but did not confirm if it was German soldiers who opened fire. Raabe said the incident is under investigation by Afghan police and the German military contingent in Kunduz.

The situation has been tense in Afghanistan since an attack on German soldiers that injured three and killed a 29-year-old sergeant Wednesday. According to the German Defense Ministry, soldiers had been warned against bomb attacks, including those carried out using cars.

rbn -- with wire reports

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