North Atlantic Treaty Organisation report into Kunduz hospital air strike delayed

The death toll from a U.S. air strike on an Afghan hospital has jumped to 30, Doctors Without Borders said today, as an initial North Atlantic Treaty Organisation probe conceded that the catastrophic raid caused civilian casualties.

The official said the global Committee of the Red Cross and the Czech Republic’s People in Need – two other earlier targets of alleged violations – would still be allowed to operate.

The Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz was the only emergency trauma care center in northern Afghanistan.

US forces have acknowledged that they mistakenly bombed the hospital; the death toll stands at 23 people killed.

“Without clear rules for interaction and without a full understanding of American military operations, I fear that an global investigation alone could draw poorly-supported and unfair conclusions about the actions of our servicemembers”, added Garamendi.

Seven other bodies were found in the wreckage but could not be identified.

The main building was destroyed and the hospital has been shut down.

U.S. President Barack Obama has apologized for the attack, which happened as Afghan forces battled Taliban insurgents who had stormed Kunduz on September 28 and briefly held the city of 300,000, the first provincial capital they have overrun since being forced from power in late 2001. “MSF is the largest player in the region and now we will have to stop people’s treatment”, Janssens said. Gen. William Hickman and two brigadier-generals to continue the investigation.

Instead, the US has pointed to separate ongoing inquiries by the Army, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and a joint U.S.-Afghan team into the October 3 attack as evidence of sufficient oversight. Neither the USA nor Afghanistan are party to the IHFFC, which has yet to be called upon to investigate alleged war crimes in its 24 year-existence.