BERLIN: The German officer who ordered the deadly bombing of fuel trucks in Afghanistan violated procedures, a preliminary NATO probe has found, a German newspaper reported on Thursday.
Colonel Georg Klein overstepped his authority and poorly evaluated the situation, says the NATO report conducted following the air strike last Friday in the northern province of Kunduz, which killed dozens.
It is "completely clear" that Klein did not respect decision-making procedures, a high-ranking German officer in NATO told the daily.
Such a decision should have been referred to the headquarters of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), he said.
Klein called in US warplanes last Friday to bomb two coalition fuel trucks that had been captured by Taliban militants, fearing they would be used as truck bombs against NATO forces.
The preliminary report concluded however that ISAF troops were not in imminent danger as the trucks were stuck in the sand and were being closely monitored.