SUSPECTED US AIRSTRIKE HITS HOSPITAL IN KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN

Published time: 3 Oct, 2015 07:14
Edited time: 3 Oct, 2015 13:23

A hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz has been hit and partially destroyed in an overnight “aerial attack” that killed at least nine Medecins Sans Frontieres staff. NATO has admitted a US airstrike may have caused accidental “collateral damage.”

03 October 2015

19:25 GMT
The US military said in a statement on Saturday that its air forces conducted a strike “in the vicinity” of a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Kunduz.

“US forces conducted an air strike in Kunduz city at 2:15am [local time], Oct 3, against insurgents who were directly firing upon US servicemembers advising and assisting Afghan Security Forces in the city of Kunduz. The strike was conducted in the vicinity of a Doctors Without Borders medical facility,” said Gen. John F Campbell, commander of US forces in Afghanistan.

“I am aware of an incident that occurred at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz city today,” he added.

19:15 GMT
.@MSF nurse in Kunduz rescuing patients/staff: "There are no words for how terrible it was. In ICU 6 patients were burning in their beds."

— Jason Cone (@jtcone1977) October 3, 2015
.@MSF: "We looked for some staff that were supposed to be in the OR. A patient there on the operating table, dead, in middle of destruction"

— Jason Cone (@jtcone1977) October 3, 2015
18:42 GMT
MSF said in a statement that the hospital was bombed by a series of aerial raids at approximately 15 minute intervals. The bombs “very precisely” and “repeatedly” hit the main central hospital building, housing the intensive care unit, emergency rooms, and physiotherapy ward, it added.

“The bombs hit and then we heard the plane circle round,” said Heman Nagarathnam, MSF’s head of programs in northern Afghanistan.“There was a pause, and then more bombs hit. This happened again and again. When I made it out from the office, the main hospital building was engulfed in flames.

“Those people that could had moved quickly to the building’s two bunkers to seek safety. But patients who were unable to escape burned to death as they lay in their beds.”

18:24 GMT
NATO’s Secretary General has expressed his condolences to all those affected by the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz.

“I am deeply saddened by the tragic incident involving a Doctors without Borders hospital in Kunduz,” Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement on Saturday. “I extend my condolences to all those affected. A US investigation into this tragic incident is underway in coordination with the Afghan government.”

18:03 GMT
The head of the US-led forces in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, has offered his condolences to Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani after the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz, the Afghan president’s office has reported, as cited by Reuters.

Reuters previously reported that Campbell had apologized to Ghani. However, it later corrected the statement.

16:37 GMT
MSF said “all indications” suggest US-led forces carried out the bombing.

"All indications currently point to the bombing being carried out by international Coalition forces," it said in a statement. "MSF demands a full and transparent account from the Coalition regarding its aerial bombing activities over Kunduz on Saturday morning."

16:30 GMT
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said two of its medical staff had been helping at the MSF facility in Kunduz, but they weren’t harmed in the bombing.

16:17 GMT
MSF said the death toll in the bombing has risen to 12 staff members and at least 7 patients. It added that 37 people were injured, including 19 staff members.

15:50 GMT
US bombing massacres 9 MSF Aid workers in Afghanistan today. What do our hypocrite journos and broadcasters have to say? Sweet FA. @RT_com

— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) October 3, 2015
How could this have happened!? @MSF hospital bombed by US in Afghanistan despite being informed of its location. http://t.co/wo0IWmFjbE

— mia farrow (@MiaFarrow) October 3, 2015

15:35 GMT
The US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says Washington is still trying to determine what happened in the airstrike that hit the Afghan hospital.

"A full investigation into the tragic incident is under way in coordination with the Afghan government," Carter said in a statement.

He said the area around the hospital had been the scene of intense fighting in recent days with US forces supporting Afghan Security Forces against Taliban fighters.

15:33 GMT
Eltaf Najafizada, a freelance journalist for RT, found out about the death of his friend Aminullah Salarzai on social media. He had worked at the hospital as a doctor.

“It’s a really sad moment concerning the death of my friend. He was in his 20’s and was engaged. He worked as a physician at the Doctors Without Borders hospital. He was loved by all those around him. I really miss him.”

Dr. Aminullah Salarzai, killed last night in #Kunduz Doctors Without Borders's hospital. #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/fDRLDFQTm9

— Bashir Ahmad Gwakh (@bashirgwakh) October 3, 2015

15:29 GMT
The UN Human Rights chief, Zeid Raad al-Hussein says the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz was “utterly tragic, inexcusable and possibly even criminal.” He has called for an investigation into the incident, Reuters reports.

"This deeply shocking event should be promptly, thoroughly and independently investigated and the results should be made public," al-Hussein said in a statement.

"The seriousness of the incident is underlined by the fact that, if established as deliberate in a court of law, an airstrike on a hospital may amount to a war crime."

14:43 GMT
Medecins Sans Frontieres has tweeted that 16 people were killed: nine staff members, seven patients, and three children. The medical charity adds that 37 people have suffered injuries, including 19 staff members of whom five are in a critical condition.

LATEST: 16 ppl killed - 9 MSF staff, 7 patients (3 children). 37 injured - 19 staff (5 critical) & 18 patients & caretakers. #Afganistan

— MSF UK (@MSF_uk) October 3, 2015
14:42 GMT
The head of the US-led forces in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, has apologized to the Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani after the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz, the Afghan president’s office has reported, as cited by Reuters.


Afghan MSF surgeons work in an undamaged part of the MSF hospital in Kunduz after the operating theatres were destroyed in an air strike © MSF / AFP

14:23 GMT
An MSF doctor, as cited by the Guardian, is reporting that 20 members of the medical charity have been killed. The doctor told the publication that eight nurses, three doctors, six security guards, two cleaners and a pharmacist were among those killed.

14:22 GMT
Amnesty International has condemned the bombing of the hospital in Kunduz, saying the loss of life was “deplorable” and that the matter needed to be “urgently and impartially investigated.

“This bombing of the MSF hospital in Kunduz marks a dark day for humanitarianism. It is sickening to think that doctors and other staff have had to pay with their lives while trying to save others. Hospitals are places of sanctity under international law governing conflict,” said Horia Mosadiq, Afghanistan Researcher at Amnesty International.

“There must be a full, independent and transparent investigation into how and why this bombing took place. The US military should not be jumping to conclusions without first fully getting to the bottom of how this happened.”

12:59 GMT
A Medecins Sans Frontiere official has stated the medical charity was frantically trying to phone NATO as Washington bombed the medical hospital for almost an hour, Reuters has reported.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said the first bomb landed at 2:10am and MSF staff called NATO officials in Kabul at 2:19am and military officials in Washington a few minutes later. The bombing continued until 3:13am.

The organization said they would release a statement shortly.

12:16 GMT
A Middle East expert, Willy van Damme, has called on the US to own up to their mistake of allegedly firing a missile at the hospital, saying that no one else could have been responsible.

“They knew the coordinates very well as they were communicated several times to the US and NATO by Medecins Sans Frontieres. If I was a US General or Barack Obama, I would admit to what has happened and not say ‘we are investigating.’ There is only one air force operating over there. There is no Chinese Air Force or Taliban Air Force,” he told RT.

11:59 GMT
RT’s London correspondent Eisa Ali has been looking into what the reliance on US airstrikes could mean for the future of Afghanistan, with the country still struggling to hold its own against the Taliban.

“It was around this time last year that we saw, with much pomp and ceremony, the withdrawal of UK involvement in Afghanistan. After more than a decade of war in Afghanistan, it had been heralded as a so-called victory in nation building. Yet we have now seen a militant group able to take a city of around 300,000 people, while the Afghan forces are only able to push them out with air support.

“The US are scheduled to leave in 2016, but it raises many concerns amongst observers that if we have situations like this, what will the future be for Afghan forces and will they be able to hold the country together in the face of an organized Taliban onslaught.”

11:16 GMT
RT’s video agency Ruptly has footage of the hospital, which was allegedly struck by a US airstrike, in which nine members of Medecins Sans Frontieres were killed.



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