News

US investigating responsibility after airstrike on Afghan hospital kills 19

by Bradford Richardson - 10/03/15 9:56 AM ET

An airstrike damaged a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Kunduz, Afghanistan, on Saturday, killing at least 19 and wounding at least 37 patients and staff, including three children, according to the New York Times.

{mosads}U.S. officials are investigating whether the attack came from a U.S. AC-130 gunship that was in the area suppressing Taliban forces.

Afghan security officials told the Wall Street Journal that the strike did not directly hit the hospital and that the target of the attack was a nearby compound holding 60 Taliban and allied Uzbek militants.

The Pentagon confirmed a U.S. airstrike hit in the vicinity of the hospital in a statement issued Saturday.

“U.S. forces conducted an airstrike in Kunduz city at 2:15am (local), Oct. 3, against insurgents who were directly firing upon U.S. servicemembers advising and assisting Afghan Security Forces in the city of Kunduz,” the statement said. “The strike was conducted in the vicinity of a Doctors Without Borders medical facility.”

U.S. Army spokesman Col. Brian Tribus said the U.S. airstrike “may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility.”

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said in a statement that an investigation into the incident was ongoing.

Doctors Without Borders said it warned U.S. and Afghan authorities of its hospital’s location before the strike took place.

“The bombing in Kunduz continued for more than 30 minutes after American and Afghan military officials in Kabul and Washington were first informed by MSF that its hospital was struck,” the group, known internationally as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said Saturday.

Photos of damage done by bombing of #MSF #Kunduz hospital + staff treating patients in parts still standing ©MSF pic.twitter.com/hKOBIyLttI

— Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) October 3, 2015

The aid relief group said the location of the hospital was communicated to authorities as recently as Thursday.

“MSF also wishes to clarify that all parties to the conflict, including in Kabul and Washington, were clearly informed of the precise location (GPS coordinates) of the MSF facilities,” MSF said in a statement.

MSF also said it was assured by both warring parties that the hospital would be protected.

The U.S. embassy in Kabul expressed its condolences for those affected by the airstrike.

“The U.S. Embassy mourns for the individuals and families affected by the tragic incident at the Doctors without Borders hospital, and for all those suffering from the violence in Kunduz,” a statement on the embassy Facebook page said.

The hospital was caught in crossfire between Afghan and Taliban forces earlier in the week, when the Taliban captured Kunduz, the group’s biggest victory in 15 years and a major setback for Afghan forces in the region.

Afghanistan said it reclaimed most of the city in an operation backed by U.S. airstrikes, but violence is still ongoing in the city, which is a strategic hub located on the main highway between Kabul and Tajikistan.

– Updated at 5:02 p.m.

Tags Afghanistan