Attack on MSF Hospital was a “Tragic Mistake”: US Investigation

Gen Campbell described an egregious series of human and technical failures that led to what he called a “tragic mistake”. Several individuals involved in the strike have been suspended, Campbell said.

The officials’ account as quoted by the NYT does not address why the attack – which lasted more than one hour – was not halted despite frantic telephone calls from MSF staff, nor why USA ground forces failed to intervene when they saw the wrong building being hit.

Two other military officials said the Air Force AC130 gunship that attacked the hospital was meant to target a different compound several hundred metres away that was believed to be a Taliban base of operations, the paper reported.

The USA military also reportedly released a summary of the findings of their investigation to the public.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Wednesday said that the US report on the AC-130 gunship attack on a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz “leaves more questions than answers”, and it repeated its request for an independent and impartial investigation into the October incident in which 30 people died.

A building near the hospital was the initial target, from which Taliban fighters were firing on United States forces, the Defense Department reports.

American soldiers and airmen who killed and wounded dozens of civilians in the strike violated USA rules of engagement in a war zone, and have been suspended as they await disciplinary action, military officials said Wednesday.

It is shocking that an attack can be carried out when USA forces have neither eyes on a target nor access to a no-strike list, and have malfunctioning communications systems.

MSF has said that staff within the compound frantically attempted to contact USA and Afghan commanders during the attack.

Currently, another combined investigation by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the Afghan government was underway, said Campbell.

The hospital appeared similar to the description provided of the intended target, and at night the crew was “unable to identify any signs of the hospital’s protected status”.

The investigation, known officially as a combined civilian casualty assessment, was led by U.S. Army Brig. Christopher Stokes, general director of Doctors Without Borders, in a statement earlier this month said, “A mistake is quite hard to understand and believe at this stage”.

President Obama apologized for the strike shortly after it occurred, and Doctors Without Borders continues to call for an independent investigation outside of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military command.

“The investigating officer’s recommendations on this have been referred to the proper authorities for disposition”, Brigadier General Shoffner said.