Gen. Campbell: Afghan forces requested airstrike that hit hospital in Kunduz

A Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan was struck accidentally after Afghan forces called for air support from the American military, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan says.

MSF stated that the government implies that the U.S and Afghan forces made a decision to go ahead with the bombing because they believed Taliban militants were inside the hospital.

“The Taliban have chose to remain in the city and fight from within, knowingly putting civilians at significant risk of harm”, Campbell said.

The disclosure by Gen. John F. Campbell was at odds with initial reports that said US forces called in the airstrike Saturday morning because they were under attack from Taliban insurgents.

President Barack Obama promised a full investigation while US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter, who expressed sadness over the “tragic loss of life”, warned that the investigation will not be swift.

Afghan forces backed by USA airstrikes have been battling the Taleban street by street in Kunduz since Thursday to dislodge insurgents who seized the strategic city three days earlier in their biggest foray into a major urban area since the US-led invasion of 2001. “We will hold those responsible accountable, and we will take steps to ensure mistakes are not repeated”, Campbell said.

Speaking on NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered on Sunday, Doctors Without Borders Executive Director Jason Cone called the incident in Kunduz a “war crime” and called for an independent investigation. Relying only on an internal investigation by a party to the conflict would be wholly insufficient.

The charity said Afghan and coalition troops were fully aware of the exact location of the hospital, having been given Global Positioning System coordinates of the facility that had been providing care for four years. He also accused Afghanistan’s intelligence service of deliberately directing airstrikes on the hospital. The Taliban did not target the hospital or interfere with its operations. He noted that the Kunduz airstrike happened one day after a U.S. C-130 cargo plane crashed at an air base in northern Afghanistan, killing all six US crew members as well as five civilian passengers.

Reuters said that government forces had raised the national flag over the provincial governor’s house for the first time since losing control of much of the city.

Global staff members have since been evacuated to Kabul and critical patients sent to other facilities.

MSF has questioned Campbell’s remarks saying Washington is attempting to shift the blame from the U.S. forces to Afghanistan.

That argument didn’t cut it for MSF, which strongly denies that the Taliban was holed up inside the complex, and it didn’t cut it for the United Nations, which has referenced the attack as a potential “war crime”.