Pressure was growing yesterday for an international inquiry into a catastrophic US strike on a Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Afghanistan, after the military detailed “tragic, but avoidable” errors, but refused to say if there would be an independent investigation.
MSF on Wednesday accused US forces of “gross negligence” after the US commander in Afghanistan said the Oct. 3 strike on a charity-run hospital in the northern city of Kunduz was “caused primarily by human error.”
The raid killed 30 people and forced the charity to close the trauma center — the only one in the region — while stirring an avalanche of global condemnation.
Photo: AFP
General John Campbell, speaking at NATO headquarters in Kabul on Wednesday, blamed in part fatigue of US troops who had been battling a Taliban offensive in Kunduz for five days, adding that the mistake was “compounded by process and equipment failures.”
“The frightening catalogue of errors outlined today illustrates gross negligence on the part of US forces and violations of the rules of war,” MSF general director Christopher Stokes said after the announcement.
Campbell’s spokesman, Brigadier General Wilson Shoffner, refused to say whether the US probe would be followed by an additional independent international investigation, for which MSF has repeatedly called.
Stokes reiterated the charity’s position, saying the investigation leaves “more questions than answers” and the attack “cannot only be dismissed as individual human error or breaches of the US rules of engagement.”
Human Rights Watch backed the MSF call, saying Campbell’s account of the attack “warrants a criminal investigation into possible war crimes” and voicing concern that decisions over any criminal charges remained within the US military chain of command.
The group said Campbell’s account made it apparent that “an independent investigation is still urgently needed.”
The general said during Wednesday’s press conference that individuals involved in the attack had been suspended pending “standard military justice,” but refused to offer details on who was responsible.
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