U.S. military personnel suspended over Afghan hospital attack

The Pentagon said on Wednesday that a deadly us airstrike on an Afghan hospital last month was “caused primarily by human error”, admitting that some members of USA forces involved in the incident did not follow the rules of engagement.

The hospital’s location was known to the USA military, and officials from MSF (also known as Doctors Without Borders) repeatedly phoned US and Afghan military officials during the attack, trying desperately to stop the heavy fire.

The incident has seen a spate of contradicting accounts, with the coalition and Afghan military contradicting each other.

The resulting aerial attack lasted around 29 minutes, with the final death toll at 30 patients and staff. The MSF hospital was 450 yards away from that compound.

“I am saying the compound was being used by people who were fighting there, whether it was Taliban or ISI or whoever they were”, he said.

The attack destroyed the main hospital building, where medical personnel were catching up on a backlog of surgeries, taking advantage of the first quiet night since Taliban forces seized control of Kunduz five days earlier.

The group said Campbell’s account made it apparent that “an independent investigation is still urgently needed”.

Meanwhile, MSF demanded a clear explanation for the strike, claiming that the attack was deliberate. Nor is the level of transparency provided by the USA – even if deemed deficient by MSF – likely to have been the case if it had involved the military of a more authoritarian regime.

On one hand, nobody should harbour illusions that warfare will ever be precise and mistake-free.

The US also kept contradicting itself.

Campbell did not identify the names or number of individuals suspended and did not say whether they would face disciplinary or criminal charges. The information came from boots on the ground, intelligence from both Afghan and American soldiers, who described the building to the American AC-130 gunship, which conducted the strikes.

A briefing in Kabul provided the latest United States explanation but left some questions unanswered about an attack in which an internationally run hospital was subjected to barrages of heavy fire from an AC-130 gunship. And then what happened? “The frightening catalog of errors outlined today illustrates gross negligence on the part of US forces and violations of the rules of war”, said Christopher Stokes, the organization’s general director. At 2.20am, MSF alerted U.S. forces to the attack.

“All indications now point to the bombing being carried out by worldwide Coalition forces”, MSF said.

“The U.S. forces never warned those in the hospital before striking it”, said Professor Cohn, calling the airstrike “a precise hit” on the hospital.

Headquarters received the coordinates of a location where Taliban fighters were located.

Doctors Without Borders called the USA military 12 minutes after the attack began, Army Brigade General Wilson Shoffner, a military spokesman in Kabul, told reporters.