Berlin - Germany's Defence Ministry said Monday that German soldiers shot at least two out of seven Afghan rebels killed in a gunbattle in northern Afghanistan last week and civil prosecutors might possibly review what happened.

A 29-man patrol was ambushed Thursday near Kunduz. Together with Afghan government forces, they fought off Taliban attackers for several hours. A first account in Berlin said it was the Afghans who killed four, wounded four and captured four Taliban members.

Spokesman Thomas Raabe said a closer inquiry showed that seven were killed, at least two by the German soldiers, while 14 rebels were wounded. He said he could not rule it out that a prosecutor in Germany might investigate.

German soldiers abroad are subject to Germany's criminal laws, though battle action is usually defined as lawful killing. The armed forces have no courts martial of their own and are answerable to German civil courts.

The gunbattle, and another eight days previously in which a German soldier was killed, have been seen as a sign that the war with the Taliban is moving into the formerly quiet northern part of Afghanistan which is patrolled by the Germans. (dpa)