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Merkel calls for inquiry into NATO air strike

Monday, September 07, 2009 BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday said she would "deeply regret" if any civilian lives were lost in a recent NATO air strike in Afghanistan, which was ordered by a German military commander. "If there were civilian casualties, I would deeply regret that," said Merkel before meeting in Berlin with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. She called for a "quick, complete and open" inquiry by NATO into Friday's raid on northern Kunduz province. Merkel reassured the around 4,000-strong German troops in increasingly violent northern Afghanistan, who she said were serving "in difficult conditions", that their country was "standing behind them". The NATO-led force in Afghanistan denied Sunday that its investigators had already wrapped up their inquiry and had reached a definitive death toll. Mohammad Omar, governor of Kunduz province, said by telephone Sunday that six civilians, including a child, were among a total of 54 people killed in the air strike, which targeted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban.
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