EU ministers criticised Nato on Saturday after an air strike in Afghanistan that local officials said killed scores of people, many of them civilians. The attack, which damaged efforts to win "hearts and minds" in the country, took place a day before EU foreign ministers met in Stockholm to discuss ways to boost Western efforts to stabilise Afghanistan and stem an Islamist insurgency.
Asked what more the bloc could do to improve the situation, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told reporters: "It is difficult to say, but mainly to work with the Afghan people and not to bomb them, not only to bomb them." Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn called Friday's air strike in Kunduz province an "unacceptable catastrophe".
"It's very difficult to accept and understand why bombs should be dropped so quickly," he said. "Dropping bombs in a country where we are there to protect the civilian population is something that should be very exceptional and what happened yesterday I can't accept." British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Friday any civilian casualties were "dangerous" for the Western mission.
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Fererro-Waldner called it "a great tragedy" which should be investigated immediately. Afghan officials say scores of people were killed, many of them civilians, when a US F-15 fighter jet called in by German troops struck two hijacked fuel trucks before dawn on Friday.
BID TO AVERT BACKLASH Nato commanders hope to avert a backlash over the incident, which happened two months after the new US and Nato commander, General Stanley McChrystal, ordered extra precautions be taken to protect civilians before troops can fire.
Kunduz had been largely quiet since the Taliban were toppled in 2001 but has recently seen a sudden upsurge in attacks, with fighters seizing control of remote areas. The area is patrolled by Nato's 4,000-strong German contingent, who are banned by Berlin from operating in combat zones in other parts of the country.
The German military has confirmed a German commander approved the air strike. The incident could feed a debate about the war, which is unpopular back home, three weeks before a German election. Nato says its targets were Taliban fighters who had hijacked the fuel trucks but has acknowledged that some of the victims were civilians.