German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung has defended the decision by German ISAF troops stationed in Afghanistan to call in an air strike.

Last Friday, Taliban militants hijacked two fuel tankers some six kilometres away from the German ISAF base in Kunduz province. According to the defence minister, the German military commander on the ground had reliable intelligence that the Taliban had seized the fuel trucks in order to launch an attack on ISAF troops and ordered an air strike on the fuel tankers to stop the attack.

European Union foreign ministers criticised NATO on Saturday for the air strike and Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack, which reportedly left 54 people dead, including six civilians.
 

Minister Jung told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, "the air strike was absolutely necessary," adding, "the commander made the right decision and based on information I got, only Taliban terrorists were killed in the strike. I can't comprehend how some can so quickly criticise the military action without knowing what the situation was or the background information".
 

However, the US newspaper The Washington Post claims the air strike was ordered on the basis of just one intelligence source and as many as 125 people were killed.