Obama also called on President Ashraf Ghani of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to express his condolences for the Afghan civilians killed and injured.
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At a White House press briefing, Earnest did not answer directly when asked if Obama would support an worldwide investigation while stressing that the Department of Defense (DOD) was conducting a “thorough and transparent” Article 15-6 fact-finding investigation.
Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders said Wednesday that an independent commission needed to be set up to establish exactly what happened in the attack on the Kunduz hospital if humanitarian employees are to continue working in combat zones.
Despite a recent apology from President Barack Obama regarding the accidental bombing of an Afghan hospital, the aid group Doctors Without Borders has continued to demand an investigation of the incident that took place this past weekend.
He said Afghan forces fighting to retake Kunduz from the Taliban had requested USA air power, and that a US special operations unit in the close vicinity was communicating with the crew of the heavily armed AC-130 gunship that pummeled the hospital.
“When the United States makes a mistake, we own up to it, we apologize where appropriate, and we are honest about what transpired”, Earnest said.
Mr Earnest, the White House spokesman, said the US had been transparent and forthright in the aftermath of the air strike.
Obama called Liu earlier Wednesday to offer his apology for the strike, the first time the United States apologized for the incident. He said he could not say legally whether the bombing was a war crime but the U.S. “goes to great lengths to limit the loss of life” of civilians. “They said very precise strikes on the main building of the hospital”.
MSF, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning organisation that provides medical aid in conflict zones, is awaiting responses to letters it sent on Tuesday to 76 countries that signed Article 90 of the additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions, seeking to mobilise the 15-member commission.
Army Gen. John F. Campbell, commander of 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan, said the airstrike in Kunduz was meant to defend USA forces under fire from the Taliban.
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Also Wednesday, Liu called for the global Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, created under the Geneva Conventions, to investigate the devastating strike.
