Forty-two people were killed and some 37 wounded in an airstrike on a hospital run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in the Afghan city of Kunduz past year, drawing worldwide condemnation.
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Some Afghan government officials defended the attack, which only added to speculation that Afghan forces had intended for the US troops to hit the hospital and its Taliban patients. In March he took over U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
The Pentagon has reportedly disciplined 16 service members involved in the attack, which was described as a “mistake”.
No criminal charges have been filed, according to the AP. However, the investigation did not conclude that these failures amounted to a war crime.
“The label “war crimes” is typically reserved for intentional acts – intentionally targeting civilians of intentionally targeting protected objects”, the report reads.
The official explanation from Gen. Joseph Votel is that the bombing was a tragedy of errors, “process and equipment failures”, and poor communication that resulted in those responsible for the attack believing they were hitting a Taliban-controlled facility, not a hospital. It will give $6,000 to each of the families of those who died, Votel said Friday, and $3,000 to those who were injured. He said the intended target of the USA attack was a compound about a quarter-mile away from the hospital.
The Pentagon has punished 16 military personnel for an airstrike previous year on a Doctors Without Borders medical facility in Afghanistan that killed 42 civilians, including doctors and patients. The group has called the attack a war crime and demanded an independent investigation.
Army Gen. Joseph Votel, Commander of U.S. Central Command, briefs reporters on the release of the investigation into the U.S. airstrike on the Doctors With Borders trauma center in Kunduz, Afghanistan, Friday, April 29, 2016, at the Pentagon.
To avoid such mistakes in the future, it will be required that data such as no-strike lists be pre-loaded onto all aircrafts.
Doctors Without Borders has consistently said there were no Taliban fighters at the hospital on October 3 and that it was a particularly quiet night that followed several days of clashes.
Today the Pentagon released a memorandum from Defense Secretary Ash Carter 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 investigation determined that all members of both the ground force and the AC-130U aircrew were unaware the aircrew was firing on a medical facility throughout the engagement. The investigation ultimately concluded that this tragic incident was caused by a combination of human errors, compounded by process and equipment failures.
The Pentagon said it would not release names of the personnel to protect their privacy and because some of them are still serving overseas. None of the 16 was identified, though one was a general.
Votel said the special operations team that called the airstrike was engaged in “an extraordinarily intense combat situation” while supporting Afghan security forces fighting Taliban fighters.
Three aircrew members still face recertification boards that will determine whether they are eligible to be returned to flight status.
‘It is important to point out that these adverse administrative actions can carry severe repercussions on the careers and professional qualification of these individuals, ‘ Votel said, to include possible denial of promotion or advancement and possible removal from the service.
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The AC-130 gunship, heavily armed with side-firing cannons and guns, fired on the hospital in the northern city of Kunduz for 30 minutes before the mistake was realized and the attack was halted, Votel said. “The hospital was on a list of buildings not to target, but the aircraft crew did not have access to the list due to problems with a radio system”.
