An official familiar with Campbell’s thinking said that although authorities are still determining potential disciplinary action, the commander believes the incident is serious and has garnered so much public attention it warrants this step.
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Campbell and Shoffner did not address previous claims by military officials that the Taliban had taken over the hospital, but the Associated Press reports that a summary of one of the investigations states there is no evidence to support the claim.
The charity has said that it contacted US-led forces as the attack was taking place, informing them that they were under fire.
The investigation found the gunship fired 211 shells at the hospital over a 29-minute period before anyone realized they had made a mistake. 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.
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. “MSF reiterates its call for an independent and impartial investigation into the attack on our hospital in Kunduz”.
“Moreover, we are deeply concerned that any decision making about possible criminal charges remains within the chain of command responsibility for military operations in Afghanistan”, it added.
“Chaos does not justify this tragedy”, Brigadier General Wilson Shoffner, a spokesman, said at the briefing.
“The report also determined that the personnel who requested the strike and those who executed it from the air did not undertake the appropriate measures to verify that the facility was a legitimate military target”, Campbell said.
“The frightening catalog of errors outlined today illustrates gross negligence on the part of USA forces and violations of the rules of war”, said Christopher Stokes, the organization’s general director.
The investigation, known officially as a combined civilian casualty assessment, was led by U.S. Army Brig.
A charred ward of the damaged MSF hospital in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz.
It has repeated its call for an independent investigation.
The bombing happened despite the fact that the medical facility was in a no-strike list and representatives from the institution called to alert the USA forces during the attack.
“The investigating officer found that the aircrew visually located the closest large building near the open field, which we now know was the MSF trauma centre”, Campbell said.
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President Obama has opposed the idea, and the military badly damaged the hospital site during its “investigation”, likely precluding any more inquiries. The U.S., under current rules of engagement, does not strike Taliban formations unless Afghan security forces are about to be overrun.
