On Saturday, October 3, airstrikes destroyed an Afghan Doctors Without Borders hospital in the city of Kunduz, Afghanistan. Casualties were numbered at 22—three of whom were children—in addition to 37 others who were injured.
Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as it is known internationally, is a non-profit, humanitarian organization designed to deliver emergency aid to people of all race, ethnicity, and color around the world. After hearing of the airstrike, president of the organization, Meinie Nicolai, stated in an interview with the Guardian that “this attack is abhorrent and a grave violation of international humanitarian law.” She further stated how they “demand total transparency from coalition forces” and “cannot accept that this horrific loss of life will simply be dismissed as ‘collateral damage’.”
At the exact time of the hospital attack, the U.S. military was supposedly conducting an airstrike in Kunduz. President Obama immediately released a statement on the matter promising “the Department of Defense has launched a full investigation, and we will await the results of that inquiry before making a definitive judgment as to the circumstances of this tragedy.” He ended by stating that they should “expect a full accounting of the facts and circumstances.”
A week prior to the airstrike, the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist political movement, overthrew the city through means of force. The Afghan government fought back and regained power for a short while thereafter, but as of Sunday morning, the Taliban recaptured it once again. Al Jazeera reported over 100 deaths as a result of this political overthrow.
It was also reported the MSF hospital was unknowingly an epicenter for Taliban negotiations and attacks. The now acting governor, Hamdullah Danishi, suggested this would give warrant to the attack. Danishi further supported the attack by stating how “the hospital campus was 100 percent used by the Taliban,” and how the “hospital has a vast garden, and the Taliban were there…” according to Washington Post.
The United Nations viewed this event differently and responded with backlash towards the U.S. military. “I condemn in the strongest terms the tragic and devastating air strike on the Médecins sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz early this morning, which resulted in the deaths and injury of medical personnel, patients and other civilians,” said Nicholas Haysom, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Though it is still unclear whether the U.S. military is responsible for the attack, the majority has directed their accusations toward the U.S., whether accurate or not. A witness of the attack describes the event in an interview with the Guardian news, “I was inside my office. Around 2 a.m., the plane started bombing the main building of MSF. It lasted one and a half hours. After 3.30 a.m., I came out from my office and saw all of the hospital was on fire.”
Those injured in the event have since been evacuated to a town adjacent to Kunduz. However, the death toll is still rising. MSF has also fully withdrawn from the city, and is unsure about their future in Kunduz. They stated the hospital is beyond repair from the airstrike damage, and would thus need time and finances before the thought of reinstituting.
U.S. Department of Defense and Afghan government will continue investigations until further notice.
One reply on “Afghan Hospital Bombing”
Being charged with a war crime is and should be a serious matter. The repeated firing upon a hospital that itself was in communication with the military notifying them of the ongoing attack is a war crime.
There can only be two reasons for the attack: the retaliation for the bombing of the C130 cargo plane on the runway, and the belief that by showing their invincibility to sanctions the US can continue to hold sway over the area. It is indicative of a contrived plan that failed that AC of US announced their intention of staying 5 more years in Afghanistan.