Kabul, Sep 11 (DPA) The commission appointed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to investigate last week's NATO airstrike on two fuel tankers that claimed dozens of Taliban and civilian lives has exonerated the German Army, which ordered the strike, a German television station reported Friday.

Civilians were indeed among the victims, but responsibility for the incident lies with the Taliban, ARD television reported, citing investigators in the commission.

Members of the panel had returned to Kabul from the northern province of Kunduz, where the Sep 4 airstrike occurred, and planned to present their report Saturday to Karzai.

The Afghan investigators told the ARD that the Taliban had hijacked the two fuel trucks, which became stuck in the Kunduz River, causing militants and civilians to gather around them to remove their fuel, which is when the airstrike was carried out.