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U.S. General Says Afghans Requested Airstrike That Hit Kunduz Hospital Afghan Forces Report Retaking Parts of Kunduz
(about 5 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John F. Campbell, on Monday responded publicly to criticism over the American airstrike that destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the city of Kunduz, claiming that Afghan forces had requested the strike while under fire and conceding that the military had incorrectly reported at first that American troops were under direct threat. KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan security forces on Monday reported significant progress in trying to retake the northern city of Kunduz from the Taliban. But evidence of a calculated insurgent offensive on multiple fronts continued, amid reports that yet another provincial capital had come under attack.
But General Campbell’s comments, in a sudden and brief news conference at the Pentagon, did not clarify the military’s initial claims that the strike, which killed 22 people, had been an accident to begin with. Doctors Without Borders has repeatedly said that there had been no fighting around the hospital, and that the building was hit over and over by airstrikes on Saturday morning, even though the group had sent the American military the precise coordinates of its hospital so it could be avoided. With much of the attention still on Kunduz, where fighting continued on Monday and where a devastating American airstrike on Saturday deprived the city’s residents of its most important hospital, new fighting was reported near the provincial capital in Faryab, in northwestern Afghanistan. It was the third northern hub to come under Taliban attack in recent days.
In the news conference, General Campbell said that Afghan forces had come under fire near the hospital and then called for help. “An airstrike was then called to eliminate the Taliban threat and several civilians were accidentally struck. This is different from the initial reports which indicated that U.S. forces were threatened and that the airstrike was called on their behalf,” he said. The onslaught on the Faryab provincial capital, Maimana, was barely repelled by the Afghan security forces, said the acting governor, Abdul Sattar Barez. He estimated that some 2,000 Taliban fighters had been involved, but that number seemed high, given that the Taliban managed to take Kunduz City last week with an estimated 300 to 400 fighters.
For the first time, General Campbell suggested that American Special Forces personnel with the Afghan forces had a role in coordinating the strike. Regardless, the attacking force was said to include insurgent fighters from four nearby provinces as well as Faryab: Sari Pul, Jawzjan, Badghis and Ghor. The fighting went on for nearly 10 hours as Taliban attacked the city from three directions, Mr. Barez said. He credited the combination of a united Afghan force backed up by Maimana locals as well as air support from the American-led coalition for repelling the attack.
“The Afghans asked for air support from a Special Forces team that we have on the ground” training and advising Afghan troops in Kunduz, he said. “The reason we managed to push them back was thanks to the Afghan National Security Forces and the people of Faryab who stood against them and stopped them from achieving their ominous goal,” he said.
Asked how close the Americans were to the scene of the fighting when the strike was called in, General Campbell refused to answer, repeating that it would “come out in the investigation.” “Thanks too, to NATO for their air support,” he said, referring to the international coalition, adding: “Their jets flew all night in the skies, which demoralized the enemy. If it wasn’t for the NATO air support, we would not have made it.”
After the news conference, Doctors Without Borders, which said Sunday that it was pulling its operation out of Kunduz, released a statement calling for an independent investigation, and criticizing the shifting American accounts. The American use of airpower in Kunduz, meanwhile, was coming under increased criticism on Monday. The top American commander, Gen. John F. Campbell, acknowledged in a hastily called news conference that initial American details of an airstrike that destroyed the Doctors Without Borders hospital in that city had been wrong, but still offered no clarity about why an extended American bombardment kept raining down on the facility despite alerts from the aid group.
The American military’s “description of the attack keeps changing — from collateral damage, to a tragic incident, to now attempting to pass responsibility to the Afghanistan government,” said Christopher Stokes, the general director of Doctors Without Borders, in the statement. As families continued to try to cope with the wounded and dead in Kunduz, new progress was reported in the fight to retake the city from Taliban fighters who seized it in a matter of hours last Monday.
“The reality is the U.S. dropped those bombs. The U.S. hit a huge hospital full of wounded patients and M.S.F. staff,” his statement continued, referring to the group by the initials of its French name, Médecins Sans Frontières. “The U.S. military remains responsible for the targets it hits, even though it is part of a coalition. There can be no justification for this horrible attack. With such constant discrepancies in the U.S. and Afghan accounts of what happened, the need for a full transparent independent investigation is ever more critical.” Afghan security forces on Monday raised the nation’s black, red and green flag over the governor’s house in the northern city of Kunduz for the first time in a week and appeared to have succeeded in clearing the Taliban from some neighborhoods, according to Afghan security officials and residents.
Initial reports had indicated that American advisers and Afghan troops were under heavy Taliban fire in Kunduz when the airstrikes began. But General Campbell, the American commander, said that he had learned from American military investigators who are now in Kunduz that only Afghan forces were under attack at that the time of the strikes, and that there was no direct threat against American troops.
General Campbell, who is in Washington to testify to Congress this week about the American troop presence in Afghanistan, also confirmed reports that an AC-130 gunship was used to conduct the airstrike. The aircraft is a slow-moving variant on a cargo plane that is equipped with large-caliber guns and a howitzer and was originally designed during the Cold War to take out tanks on the plains of northern Europe.
He refused to provide more details about the strike, saying that they would come out in the formal military investigation that is now underway.
Six years ago, Kunduz was the site of another devastating NATO airstrike that killed civilians and added to a growing anger among Afghan officials about such attacks.
That airstrike, which was called in by German NATO personnel in September 2009 after NATO fuel tankers came under Taliban attack near Kunduz city, killed 142, most of them civilians.
The outcry over the strike, and evidence of a coverup by German officials, led to the ouster of the German defense minister and the country’s top military officer. And it intensified outrage over a growing civilian toll from NATO and American airstrikes to the point where such attacks became sharply limited for several years.
In Kunduz on Monday, Afghan security forces reported significant progress in trying to retake the city from Taliban fighters who conquered it in a matter of hours last Monday.
Security officials and residents said that the black, red and green Afghan flag was again flying over the governor’s house in Kunduz for the first time in a week, and that Afghan forces appeared to have succeeded in clearing the Taliban from some neighborhoods, according to Afghan security officials and residents.
Hungry and thirsty residents of Kunduz began to emerge from their homes in the areas where the security forces had taken control. In some neighborhoods, people walked around taking stock of the damage from the Taliban’s weeklong occupation.Hungry and thirsty residents of Kunduz began to emerge from their homes in the areas where the security forces had taken control. In some neighborhoods, people walked around taking stock of the damage from the Taliban’s weeklong occupation.
“The Afghan National Security Forces have managed to position themselves in different parts of the Kunduz City,” said Saeed Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesman for the Kunduz police.“The Afghan National Security Forces have managed to position themselves in different parts of the Kunduz City,” said Saeed Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesman for the Kunduz police.
“The city is in the control of the Afghan government,” he said. “People have resumed coming out of their homes and a number of grocery shops have also reopened.” “The city is in the control of the Afghan government,” he said. “People have resumed coming out of their homes, and a number of grocery shops have also reopened.”
He said that the Taliban’s front line had vanished but added that the government could not “guarantee 100 percent that the enemy threat is eliminated.”He said that the Taliban’s front line had vanished but added that the government could not “guarantee 100 percent that the enemy threat is eliminated.”
President Ashraf Ghani appointed an acting governor in Kunduz, Hamidullah Danishy, on Monday, who was on hand when the Afghan flag was raised over the governor’s house. However, the Afghan forces have hoisted their flag at central points in the city on at least two previous occasions during the past week only to be pushed back hours later. While this appeared to be a more significant incursion, residents said they were not sure it would last. President Ashraf Ghani on Monday appointed an acting governor in Kunduz, Hamidullah Danishy, who was on hand when the Afghan flag was raised over the governor’s house. However, the Afghan forces have hoisted their flag at central points in the city at least twice in the past week only to be pushed back hours later. While this appeared to be a more significant incursion, residents said they were not sure it would last.
A half-dozen residents reached by phone described a city only partly in government control, with the Taliban continuing to fight. One resident said his relatives were looking out their front door to see which side’s flag was flying over Cinema Square, near the city’s center.A half-dozen residents reached by phone described a city only partly in government control, with the Taliban continuing to fight. One resident said his relatives were looking out their front door to see which side’s flag was flying over Cinema Square, near the city’s center.
“The Afghan national security forces have made some advances in the city, although there is heavy fighting still,” said Faraidon, 35, who, like many Afghans uses only one name. He fled the city but had to leave relatives behind.“The Afghan national security forces have made some advances in the city, although there is heavy fighting still,” said Faraidon, 35, who, like many Afghans uses only one name. He fled the city but had to leave relatives behind.
“My relatives told me that at Cinema Square, where they live, they can see neither Taliban nor Afghan forces,” he said. “However, because they can see the Afghan flag over the square, they think the government must control the territory.”“My relatives told me that at Cinema Square, where they live, they can see neither Taliban nor Afghan forces,” he said. “However, because they can see the Afghan flag over the square, they think the government must control the territory.”
“People living in Kunduz are still fearful and waiting to see if the endless struggle will really end and they can go back to their normal life,” he said.“People living in Kunduz are still fearful and waiting to see if the endless struggle will really end and they can go back to their normal life,” he said.
The Taliban managed to mount a suicide bombing in Kabul as well. Two vehicles, at least one driven by a suicide bomber, broke through the gate of a home near the Russian Embassy in southwest Kabul, and the fighters in the second vehicle rushed into the house and took up positions inside. The attack was still going on late Monday evening.
There was some confusion about who owned the house that had been attacked. Both a former governor of Helmand Province, Naeem Baluch, and a presidential adviser, Najibullah Nasery, claimed that his house had been hit. Since neither of the men were at home when the attack occurred and they live next door to each other, it seemed that they were not yet sure of the exact location.
An Interior Ministry official confirmed the bombing and said that the house that was attacked was a guesthouse and that nobody was there at the time except a watchman, who escaped.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said in a Twitter post that the Taliban had conducted the attack and said the target was a branch of the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency.