The top USA commander in Afghanistan called it a “tragic mistake” and the military promised to investigate.
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“Today’s briefing amounts to an admission of an uncontrolled military operation in a densely populated urban area, during which US forces failed to follow the basic laws of war”, said Meinie Nicolai, the organization’s president.
Because of the confusion, Votel said, USA officials didn’t initially respond when representatives from the aid group repeatedly and frantically called US military headquarters at Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul, to urge them to call off the attack.
No-one will face criminal charges.
“The investigation concluded that the personnel involved did not know that they were striking a medical facility”, he said.
“General Joseph Votel’s assertion that a war crime must be deliberate, or intentional, is flatly wrong”, Sifton said.
“The comprehensive investigation concluded that this tragic incident was caused by a combination of human errors, compounded by process and equipment failures”, Votel said in explaining the decision not to regard the incident as a war crime. The families of those killed were offered $6,000; the wounded were offered $3,000, he said.
No criminal charges have been leveled against USA military personnel for mistakes that resulted in last’s year’s attack on the civilian hospital in Afghanistan operated by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders.
Doctors Without Borders called the attack “relentless and brutal” and demanded an global investigation, but none has been forthcoming.
To avoid such mistakes in the future, it will be required that data such as no-strike lists be pre-loaded onto all aircrafts.
In this October, 2015 photo, an Afghan National Army soldier stands guard at the gate of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan.
The Pentagon released a memorandum from Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Friday, ordering military commanders to take a series of steps over the next four months to ‘mitigate the potential for similar incidents in the future’.
The redacted report that Centcom released Friday was merely the second such CIVCAS investigative report made available to the public. The investigation had identified 16 service personnel that had “warranted consideration for appropriate administrative or disciplinary action”.
“Human errors” Its conclusion was that the crew members of the gunship who fired on the hospital “did not know they were striking a medical facility” and that the attack on the hospital was the result of human errors compounded by “process and equipment failures”.
Votel said 16 military members, including officers as well as enlisted, have been disciplined.
According to one senior US official, a two-star general was among them. “The investigation found that an AC-130 gunship air crew in support of a U.S. [Army] Special Forces element that was supporting an Afghan partner ground force misidentified and struck the Doctors Without Borders Trauma Center”. One officer was suspended and the others faced counseling, retraining or letters of reprimand. The 16 personnel found to have failed in their duties would face suspensions or reprimands rather than a court martial.
“It is important to point out that these adverse administrative actions can carry severe repercussions on the careers and professional qualifications of these individuals that could include denial of promotion or advancement … and possible separation from the service”, Votel said.
Votel said that even though there were less US forces on the ground compared to previous years, he was comfortable with the ability of the military to evaluate risk factors. Today Votel confirmed that no hostile firing was seen there.
“The hospital, located in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, was mistaken for another building controlled by the Taliban”, he said.
The special forces on the ground attempted to describe the location of a Taliban-occupied building around 400 yards from the hospital.
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The Oct. 3 strike killed 42 people and injured 229, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, which was running the hospital in the city of Kunduz.
