Afghan forces called for air strike in Kunduz -US general
Local Afghan forces asked for air support and American forces were not under direct fire just prior to the US bombardment of an Afghan hospital that killed at least 22 people, the coalition’s top commander in Afghanistan said Monday. Doctors Without Borders, a medical charity which ran the hospital in the city of Kunduz, branded the incident a war crime.
The strike wasn’t sought by Campbell said at a hastily arranged Pentagon news conference.
Rather, Campbell says that the Afghan military had requested the airstrike against the hospital, an attack which killed 22 people, including 12 members of the Doctors Without Borders staff. Campbell did not address previous claims the stirke was “an accident”. “This is different from the initial reports which indicated that USA forces were threatened and that the airstrike was called on their behalf”, said Campbell, who said he wanted to correct an initial US statement that the airstrikes were prompted by threats to US forces.
Mr Stokes also reiterated that the main building of their hospital had been precisely hit by a series of aerial bombing raids, despite MSF providing to U.S. and Afghan officials exact coordinates of their hospital.
Washington is under growing pressure to come clean over the strike, which occurred days after the Taliban overran Kunduz in their most spectacular victory in 14 years.
Still, while it was a USA airstrike, Campbell appeared to shift blame for the casualties to the Taliban.
Campbell said three investigations are underway and “if errors were committed, we’ll acknowledge them”.
“Their medical work in Afghanistan and elsewhere is vital and is appreciated by certainly all of us in the United States, but I think everyone around the world”, he said, adding that his office has been in contact with Doctors Without Borders over this weekend to emphasize that a full and transparent investigation will be conducted. The MSF, which had earlier called the attack a “war crime” demanding strict action against those behind the bombing, has exited Kunduz following the onslaught.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation conceded US forces may have been behind the strike but has not so far commented on the specific claims of MSF, which has long treated the war-wounded from all sides of the conflict.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Monday called the airstrike a “profound tragedy” and said that the incident is being investigated by the Defense Department’s Brig.
The US military had previously said the hospital may have been “collateral damage”. “The hospital was full of MSF staff, patients and their caretakers”, the group said.
Battles were still raging on Sunday around Kunduz, a city of 300,000, as US-backed government forces sought to drive out the Taliban militants who seized the city nearly a week ago.