German prosecutors drop investigation of colonel who called in deadly Afghan airstrike

German prosecutors drop Afghan probe

BERLIN — German prosecutors say they have closed an investigation into a colonel who called in an airstrike in northern Afghanistan last September that is believed to have killed civilians.

Federal prosecutors said Monday that neither German nor international law provides grounds for continuing an investigation of Col. Georg Klein.

Klein on Sept. 4 called in the NATO airstrike against two tanker trucks that had been seized by Taliban insurgents near Kunduz, fearing they could be used to attack troops.

Germany’s defense minister has since said that the airstrike was “militarily inappropriate.” The deployment in Afghanistan is unpopular at home and the airstrike has colored recent discussion of it.