2009 Kunduz airstrike
| Kunduz airstrike | |
|---|---|
| Part of the War in Afghanistan | |
| Type | Aerial attack (two GBU-38/500lb bombs) |
| Location | |
| Target | Two fuel tankers |
| Date | September 4, 2009 |
| Executed by | USAF F-15E, called in by German forces. |
| Casualties | Up to 200, with over 100 civilians killed |
The 2009 Kunduz airstrike took place on Friday 4 September 2009 at roughly 2:30 am local time, 7 km (4.3 mi) southwest of Kunduz City, Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan. Responding to a call by German forces, an American F-15E fighter jet struck two fuel tankers, killing over 100 civilians in the attack.
Because of the high civilian death toll, the airstrike had political repercussions, especially in Germany. In June 2010 Germany announced it would pay $5,000 to each of the families of over 100 civilian victims, as an ex gratia payment without admitting liability. The former Afghan Commerce Minister Amin Farhang described the $5,000—equivalent to about 20,000 Afghanis—as a "laughable" sum. Earlier, in February 2010, Germany had reclassified the Afghanistan deployment as an "armed conflict within the parameters of international law", allowing German forces to act without risk of prosecution under German law.