USA military personnel involved in a devastating airstrike on a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan previous year have or will be punished, officials have confirmed.
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At a November news conference, Brigadier General Wilson Shoffner, a spokesman for the USA commander in Afghanistan, said the actions taken by the US aircrew were “not appropriate” to the threat they faced, suggesting that a number of them could be found at fault and disciplined. “What we lack is the view from outside the hospital – what happened within the military chains of command”.
Afghan surgeons work inside an MSF hospital after an air strike in Kunduz, Afghanistan in this October 3, 2015 MSF handout photo.
The Pentagon is due to publish a version of its report on the attack next week. The hospital was destroyed and Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym, MSF, ceased operations in Kunduz.
The organisation said the bombing a “warcrime” and has called for an worldwide and independent investigation into the airstrike.
Several factors contributed to the mistake. Once in flight, the aircraft’s electronic systems malfunctioned, eliminating the crew’s ability to transmit video, send and receive email, or send and receive electronic messages. That loss of accuracy appeared to cause the coordinates of the Taliban target to land on an open field.
The U.S. military investigation has been completed but never released. But because of technical difficulties the crew of the AC-130 gunship overhead used visual descriptions to locate a building they though was the intended target. Doctors Without Borders officials contacted coalition military personnel during the attack to say the hospital was “being “bombed” from the air”, and the word finally was relayed to the AC-130 crew, the report said.
“We are going to ask the U.S. for precise information on what these disciplinary measures actually are before commenting”, Charlotte Morris, a press officer of MSF, said. By the time headquarters personnel had verified the “fatal mistake” 17 minutes later, the 29-minute airstrike had concluded. Many people had been killed immediately by the bombing, whereas other patients who were unable to move burned to death in the fire that followed.
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President Barack Obama has apologized for the Kunduz attack, with the Pentagon promising to pay compensation to the families of those killed.
