Kunduz: Pentagon to pay compensation over Afghan hospital bombing

The Pentagon announced Saturday it would make payments in compensation for those killed and injured by USA airstrikes on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz.

The MSF is now calling for an independent investigation by a United Nations commission into how the attack happened, TIME reported.

“As we see this attack on our hospital as a serious violation of the global humanitarian law we feel that worldwide Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission is the right body to address this violation and to investigate it impartially and independently”, he added. Liu complained that the attack in Kunduz was not just an attack on their hospital and a possible war crime but an attack on the Geneva Conventions that can not be tolerated.

Separate investigations from North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and both the USA and Afghan governments are being conducted. During the attack, 22 people died – 10 patients and 12 staff members. Now, the bombing is being framed as a tragic accident, as Special Operations Forces commander Gen. John F. Campbell called the attack a “mistake”.

Earlier this week, U.S. President Barack Obama called and apologized to the head of Doctors Without Borders, whose staff and patients were killed and injured.

The White House has yet to complete investigation into the case, said Earnest. A pre-flight brief also should have noted areas that should not be struck, including religious sites, schools-and hospitals. The moment the US pulls out of Afghanistan, the Taliban will doubtless renew their attempts to seize power, and Afghanistan’s endless war will return to pre-9/11 levels of ferocity.

The USA, he said, will also pay for the fix of the hospital. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said the us military acknowledges a mistake it deeply regrets. He limited the use of force to three circumstances: the defense of US and allied troops, support for missions targeting remnants of al-Qaida insurgents in Afghanistan, and assistance to Afghan troops facing mass casualties in extreme situations.

The October. 3 airstrike was carried out by the us military responding to a request from Afghan forces under fire from the Taliban.

Doctors Without Borders said it notified the US military of its hospital’s coordinates as recently as September 29, shortly after the Taliban moved into Kunduz for the first time since 2001.