A 2014 attack by Jordanian soldiers, which targeted German soldiers in Afghanistan's Kabul, was deliberately downplayed and was more serious than originally reported, German daily Bild claimed Tuesday.
Newly emerged video evidence reveals that during the attack, one of the German soldiers was beaten so severely that he became comatose.
The convoy of soldiers had been charged with protecting the then German Armed Forces General Hans-Lothar Domröse, who was visiting the Afghan capital on December 28, before dozens of Jordanian soldiers trapped the Germans and threatened them at gunpoint.
Jordanian soldiers then began to physically attack three German soldiers, one of whom ended up in coma as a result.
An international fact-finding commission concluded that the incident was "not criminally relevant."
However, documents belonging to the Hamburg criminal office bureau and later obtained by "Bild" suggested that the attack had been classified as serious.
The criminal office bureau noted on November 13, 2015 that the Jordanian soldiers had "undoubtedly" committed crimes, citing heavy robbery and predatory extortion as examples.
The bureau in Hamburg launched an investigation after one of the German soldiers filed a complaint.
It remains a mystery why the Jordanians carried out such an attack, however "Bild" claimed that it was an act of revenge to a previous dispute between the two parties.
One of the German soldiers in question was of Indian descent and the investigators did not rule out racism as a motive.
The German daily suggested that the incident was "minimized" for political reasons, with a video of the attack also being restricted for security reasons.
The German Ministry of Defense eventually handed over the video to the Hamburg criminal office bureau in December 2016, two years after the attack took place.
The event, where some soldiers reportedly were knocked unconscious during the beatings, comes amid German threats to pull its soldiers out of Turkey's Incirlik Air Base and relocate them to Jordan, following a dispute between Berlin and Ankara.
Tension between Turkey and Germany rose earlier this month after a German parliamentary delegation was not allowed to visit the air base, where German troops are stationed.
The move was in response to Germany's attitude towards Turkish deputies during the recent constitutional referendum period where Turkish officials were barred from holding meetings in Germany, drawing a strong reaction from Ankara.
In addition, Germany's uncooperative stance with regard to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) has also been a source of tension as the country has been a safe haven for hundreds of FETÖ members, including high-ranking NATO military officers.
