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Multiple Errors Cited in U.S. Airstrike on Doctors Without Borders Hospital Multiple Errors Cited in U.S. Airstrike on Doctors Without Borders Hospital
(about 9 hours later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — The American airstrike that destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz last month was the result of human errors, failures in procedure and technical malfunctions, according to military officials who have been briefed on the military’s internal investigation. KABUL, Afghanistan — The American airstrike that destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz last month was the result of human errors, failures in procedure and technical malfunctions, according to military officials briefed on the internal investigation.
“It’s a combination of factors,” said a senior Defense Department official, describing the findings within a 3,000-page investigative file examining the Oct. 3 airstrike that killed at least 30 people, mostly doctors and patients. The military is expected to give details on the findings of the investigation at a news conference on Wednesday. “It’s a combination of factors,” said a senior Defense Department official, describing the findings in a 3,000-page investigative file examining the Oct. 3 airstrike that killed at least 30 people, mostly doctors and patients. The military is expected to give details on the findings at a news conference on Wednesday.
Two other military officials briefed on the military’s investigation said the Special Operations AC-130 gunship that destroyed the hospital was intended to target an entirely different compound several hundred feet away that was believed to be a Taliban base of operations in the city. Two other military officials briefed on the investigation said the Special Operations AC-130 gunship used was intended to target a different compound several hundred feet away that was thought to be a Taliban base of operations in the city.
The military officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the report before its official release, said the investigation found that the gunship’s crew had been unable to rely on the aircraft’s instruments to find the target. Instead, they relied on verbal descriptions of the location that were being relayed by troops on the ground, a mix of American and Afghan Special Forces. Based on those descriptions, the gunship’s crew locked onto the hospital compound, mistakenly believing that it was the building that the soldiers on the ground were describing, the two officials said. The military officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the report before its official release, said the investigation found that the gunship’s crew had been unable to rely on instruments to find the target. Instead, they relied on descriptions of the location relayed by troops on the ground, a mix of American and Afghan Special Forces. Based on those descriptions, the crew locked onto the hospital compound, mistakenly believing that it was the building the ground troops were describing, the two officials said.
It remained unclear whether relying on such informal instructions would amount to a breach of military operational rules in an urban area with civilians present. And the officials’ account did not address why the ground forces said to be in contact with the gunship would not have informed the crew that they were hitting the wrong building at some point during the hour-plus that the aircraft kept up heavy fire on the hospital. It remained unclear if relying on such informal instructions would amount to a breach of military operational rules in an urban area with civilians present. And the officials’ account did not address why the ground forces said to be in contact with the gunship would not have informed the crew that it was hitting the wrong building at some point during the hour-plus that the aircraft kept up its heavy fire.
Doctors Without Borders has maintained that the American airstrike — a continuing series of attack passes that gutted the hospital’s clearly marked main building — constituted a war crime.Doctors Without Borders has maintained that the American airstrike — a continuing series of attack passes that gutted the hospital’s clearly marked main building — constituted a war crime.
The organization had reminded the United States military several times about the hospital’s exact coordinates, and officials with the group made a series of frantic calls to the American command and other offices to try to halt the attack. Multiple witnesses said the gunship also appeared to track and fire at people as they tried to flee the hospital. The group had reminded the United States military several times about the hospital’s exact coordinates, and officials with the group made a series of frantic calls to the American command and other offices to try to halt the attack. Witnesses said the plane also appeared to track and fire at people as they tried to flee.
“A mistake is quite hard to understand and believe at this stage,” Christopher Stokes, the general director of Doctors Without Borders, said at a news conference in Kabul this month.“A mistake is quite hard to understand and believe at this stage,” Christopher Stokes, the general director of Doctors Without Borders, said at a news conference in Kabul this month.
The American military’s initial accounts about the episode were later found to be incorrect, and Gen. John F. Campbell, the top American commander in Afghanistan, has called the airstrike a mistake without offering an explanation of how the hospital came to be targeted. President Obama later apologized for the attack. The military’s initial accounts were later found to be incorrect, and Gen. John F. Campbell, the top American commander in Afghanistan, has called the airstrike a mistake without explaining how the hospital came to be targeted. President Obama later apologized for the attack.
According to the military officials, the building the gunship had meant to target was the headquarters of the Afghan intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, in Kunduz. The city had fallen to the Taliban a few days before the airstrike, and the officials said the insurgents had taken over the government compound and were using it as an operations base. According to the military officials, the building the gunship had meant to target was the headquarters of the Afghan intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security, in Kunduz. The city had fallen to the Taliban a few days earlier, and the officials said the insurgents had taken over the compound.
Shortly after 2 a.m. on Oct. 3, the gunship opened fire on the main hospital compound, making its first of five passes over the building. By the fifth pass, more than an hour later, about 30 people had been killed, mostly patients and the doctors and hospital staff members who were treating them. The hospital, the largest in northern Afghanistan, was in flames. Shortly after 2 a.m. on Oct. 3, the gunship opened fire on the main hospital compound, making the first of five passes over the building. By the fifth, more than an hour later, about 30 people were dead, mostly patients and the doctors and staff members who were treating them. The hospital, the largest in northern Afghanistan, was in flames.
One of the officials said that investigators believed that the crew of the AC-130 gunship did not receive a full preflight briefing, which could have contained information about the hospital’s being a protected site under the Geneva Conventions and off limits for any airstrike. One official said investigators believed that the gunship crew did not receive a full preflight briefing, which could have contained information about the hospital’s being a protected site under the Geneva Conventions.
In addition, the United States troops did not follow their own rules in calling in the airstrike when no American and Afghan troops were in extreme danger, said another of the officials briefed on the inquiry.
The American Special Operations Forces also apparently did not have “eyes on” — or were unable to positively identify — the area to be attacked to confirm it was a legitimate target, the officials said.