This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34433302
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Afghan hospital attack: MSF condemns air strikes in Kunduz | |
(34 minutes later) | |
The medical charity MSF has condemned "in the strongest possible terms" deadly air strikes on its hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz. | |
Medecins Sans Frontieres said the number of its staff killed had risen from three to nine. | |
It said the strikes continued for more than 30 minutes after US and Afghan authorities were told of its location. | |
US forces were carrying out air strikes at the time. The Nato alliance has admitted the clinic may have been hit. | US forces were carrying out air strikes at the time. The Nato alliance has admitted the clinic may have been hit. |
At least 37 people were seriously injured, 19 of them MSF staff. At least 100 patients were in the hospital. | |
Many patients and staff remain unaccounted for, MSF says. | |
The organisation says that all parties to the conflict, including Kabul and Washington, had been told the precise GPS co-ordinates of the hospital in Kunduz on many occasions, including on 29 September. | |
After staff at the hospital became aware of the aerial bombardment in the early hours of Saturday morning, US and Afghan military officials were again informed, MSF said. | |
A spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, Col Brian Tribus, said: "US forces conducted an air strike in Kunduz city at 02:15 (local time)... against individuals threatening the force. | |
"The strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility." | |
The incident is being investigated, he added. | |
The International Committee of the Red Cross strongly condemned the bombing. | |
"Such attacks against health workers and facilities undermine the capacity of humanitarian organisations to assist the Afghan people at a time when they most urgently need it," said Jean-Nicolas Marti, head of the organisation's delegation in Afghanistan. | |
There has been intense fighting in Kunduz since Taliban fighters swept into the northern city on Monday. | There has been intense fighting in Kunduz since Taliban fighters swept into the northern city on Monday. |
Afghan officials said the government had regained control of Kunduz on Friday, but the Taliban denied the city had been retaken. | |
Eyewitnesses said they saw Taliban fighters on the streets or hiding in civilian houses. | |
Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had described the seizure of Kunduz as a "symbolic victory". | |
Kunduz, with a population of around 300,000, is one of Afghanistan's largest cities and strategically important both as a transport hub and a bread-basket for the region. | |
The US-led Nato combat mission in Afghanistan ended in December 2014, but Nato forces remain for training purposes. | |
Nato's Resolute Support Mission, which was launched in January 2015, consists of more than 13,000 troops from 42 countries. The US contributes around half of these. |