Civilian massacre 'appropriate'

Speaking in Berlin, Bundeswehr chief of staff General Wolfgang Schneiderhan announced that a NATO inquiry into the air strike had placed no blame on the German army.

On September 4 a German colonel operating in Kunduz province called in the air strike on hijacked petrol tankers in Afghanistan, apparently concerned that guerillas would use them to mount a suicide attack on his troops.

A US jet dropped 500-pound bombs on two tankers, triggering a huge explosion that Afghan officials said killed more than 70 people, including between 30 and 40 civilians who had swarmed around the vehicles to siphon off fuel.

Gen Schneiderhan said that the report was classified but "according to my evaluation, the air strike was appropriate."

Referring to the the officers involved, he said: "I see no grounds to doubt that they acted appropriately."

The general offered his assessment a day after Israel Aerospace Industries announced that it would supply unmanned aerial vehicles - commonly known as drones - to Germany.

The firm said that the Heron drones would be deployed by the German airforce in northern Afghanistan in early 2010 for reconnaissance missions.

Israeli drones have previously been supplied to occupation forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to help them gather intelligence on resistance fighters.

The Heron is Israel's largest drone, with a 16-metre wingspan and an ability to fly for as long as 30 hours at a time at a speed of 140 mph.