Germany"s armed forces chief Wolfgang Schneiderhan has resigned, Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said, after accusations the military withheld information about an air strike in Afghanistan, according to Reuters. The Sept. 4 strike was the most deadly operation involving German troops since World War Two, killing 69 Taliban fighters and 30 civilians, according to the Afghan government. In the days after the strike, Franz Josef Jung, who was defence minister at the time and now serves as labour minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel"s new centre-right government, denied there were any civilian victims. Germany"s Bild newspaper reported on Thursday, ahead of a parliamentary debate on extending Germany"s 4,500-strong mission in Afghanistan, that videos and a secret military report had clearly pointed to civilian casualties at the time the government and military was denying them. Speaking in parliament, Guttenberg said on Thursday that Schneiderhan, who as inspector general holds the highest-ranking military post in the armed forces, had submitted his resignation. The minister thanked him for his service.
