Kunduz Attack Survivors Press Germany for Aid

Negotiated Settlement Could Include Orphanage

The tiny Kunduz Province village of Omar Kheil saw a massive portion of its tiny population killed in early September when German troops called in a US air strike against a pair of stolen fuel tankers on the outskirts of town, sparking a fireball that killed well over 100 people, the vast majority civilians, and an outcry that forced the resignation of several top German officials.

But unlike most of the incidents, where the US passes a trivial sum to the families of the victims, this village got a German-born lawyer and pressed the German government to actually make significant compensation.

The road to a settlement hasn’t been easy, in no small part because Germany, a nation which has refused to even admit Afghanistan is a war, had no policy in place for compensating civilians for harm.

A key portion of any settlement is expected to be the construction of an orphanage, as the village is struggling to deal with the large number of children who lost their parents that night in September. Agriculture aid is likely to also be included in the deal.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.