A “FULL investigation” is under way into a deadly bombing at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said, amid wide speculation that the incident was the result of a US air strike.
However Doctors Without Borders have called for an independent investigation, saying that “all indications” pointed to the international military coalition as responsible for the bloody bombing that killed 19 and injured dozens.
UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called for a full and transparent probe, noting that, “an air strike on a hospital may amount to a war crime”.
“This event is utterly tragic, inexcusable and possibly even criminal,” he said.
US President Barack Obama has offered his sympathies in response to the tragedy.
“On behalf of the American people, I extend my deepest condolences to the medical professionals and other civilians killed and injured in the tragic incident at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz,” he said in a statement released by the White House.
“The Department of Defence 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,” Obama said.
Carter said that “US forces in support of Afghan Security Forces were operating nearby, as were Taliban fighters.”
The bombing killed 19 people, including 12 staff from the Doctors Without Borders nonprofit known by its French acronym MSF.
Thirty-seven were seriously wounded at the facility, a key lifeline that has been running “beyond capacity” during fighting that saw the Taliban seize control of the northern provincial capital for several days.
http://www.news.com.au/world/middle...-afghan-hospital/story-fnh81ifq-1227556014834
