On September 3, the German command in northern Afghanistan in the Kundus region ordered an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) air raid on two oil tankers that had, according to intelligence reports, been hijacked by Taliban forces. U.S. bombers carried out the raid destroying the two targets. In the days that followed different numbers of casualties, including civilian victims, were reported. An ISAF fact-finding mission reported 125 dead, among them at least two dozen civilians. The German defense minister initially asserted there were no civilian casualties at all — and then later backtracked. The events of early September in northern Afghanistan have initiated a fierce debate in Germany about the role of German forces in the country — and provoked stiff criticism from Germany’s allies.