BERLIN, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The German government is considering to compensate the families of Afghan civilians killed in a German-ordered airstrike in September, the German Defense Ministry said on Monday.

    The ministry was in contact with a lawyer representing the victims' families, Defense Ministry spokesman Christian Dienst told a regular press conference in Berlin.

    "We have said we will be in touch with him to discuss the demands for compensation. We will look at how this is to be done in concrete terms," Dienst said.

    On Sept. 4, a German colonel, operating under NATO's Afghan mission, had summoned U.S. fighter bombers to blow up fuel trucks stolen by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan. Kabul said that apart from Taliban fighters, some civilians were also killed during the strike.

    German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung was forced to resign from the cabinet last month over accusations that he covered up the civilian toll of the strike.

    According to the German media, German-Afghan lawyer Karim Popal said he represented 78 relatives of those killed in the Sept. 4 airstrike, all of whom had signed legal powers of attorney.

    Dienst told the press conference that the ministry was looking into the possibilities of an out-of-court settlement to avoid years of legal wranglings.

    "The question will be whether we want a legal battle stretching over years or whether we can come to an agreement out of court," said Dienst.

    Dienst acknowledged that one difficulty would be to establish who were civilian victims rather than Taliban fighters, and therefore entitled to compensation.

    If the two sides failed to reach an out-of-court settlement, Popal said he would sue the German military -- or Bundeswehr -- for flawed and grossly negligent behavior.

    "There will be a solution," Dienst said.