In 2009, around 100 people died in an air raid on German orders in Kunduz.
The European Court of Human Rights is now relieving Germany.
Update from February 16, 1:20 p.m
.: The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has exonerated Germany in the legal dispute over a fatal air attack.
Now a plaintiff's lawyer speaks up.
The verdict was "disappointing," said the Berlin human rights lawyer Wolfgang Kaleck.
Since the ECHR did not issue a complaint, no further prosecution could begin.
Nevertheless, the verdict holds "light and shadow", said Kaleck.
The court made it clear that the European Convention on Human Rights was applicable in similar cases.
For decision-makers in military operations, the verdict means that they “will also have to answer legally afterwards,” emphasized the lawyer.
The former Federal Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung (CDU), however, welcomed the judgment.
"I think the decision is correct and accurate, and I am grateful that the court has decided so," Jung told the newspapers of the editorial network in Germany on Tuesday.
He sees this as confirmation of his position on what happened at that time.
Update from February 16, 10:30 a.m
.: The European Court of Human Rights sees the German judiciary's investigations into the devastating air strike as appropriate.
The Grand Chamber of the Court thus gives the Federal Republic of justice.
No appeal can be lodged against the judgment, the decision of the court is final.
The Afghan family man, Abdul Hanan, had sued in the case and accused Germany of human rights violations.
Both of his sons were killed in the 2009 attack.
Bundeswehr judgment: Human rights court decides on lawsuit against the Federal Republic
First report from February 16, 10:20 a.m
.: Strasbourg - The Federal Republic of Germany has to answer before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The Grand Chamber of the Court clarifies whether the German judiciary has adequately investigated the air attack on tank trucks in Kunduz, Afghanistan, on the orders of a Bundeswehr colonel, with around 100 fatalities.
The Afghan family man, Abdul Hanan, sued the Federal Republic of Germany.
He accuses Germany of violating the European Convention on Human Rights.
Dozens of civilians were killed in the devastating NATO attack on the two tank trucks, including Hanan's two sons.
Bundeswehr: Air attack cost the lives of around 100 people
In the attack on two tank trucks hijacked by the Taliban by US warplanes on the night of September 4, 2009, around 100 people were killed, including numerous civilians.
The German commander, Colonel Klein, gave the order to attack.
He feared that the tank trucks would be used as rolling bombs by the insurgents.
He also justified his order to drop the bomb with statements from an informant who had confirmed that only Taliban were with the tankers.
In fact, however, civilians gathered by the tankers to stock up on fuel.
Afghanistan: After air raid on tanker trucks - complaints from bereaved families in Germany dismissed
More than eleven years after the devastating attack, the European Court of Human Rights is now giving its verdict.
The courts previously rejected the complaints of the victims' survivors in all instances, most recently plaintiffs failed in December 2020 with a constitutional complaint in Karlsruhe.
They demanded damages and compensation for pain and suffering from the federal government.
The criminal investigation against the Colonel in command has been closed.
The constitutional court announced on December 16 that it was comprehensibly decided in the instances that the colonel had not violated any official duties.
In recent years, the USA has been criticized for drone attacks with civilian deaths.
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dpa / AFP / jjf
)