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| Afghan hospital bombing: MSF demands investigation under Geneva conventions | Afghan hospital bombing: MSF demands investigation under Geneva conventions |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Médecins sans Frontières has called for an independent inquiry under the Geneva conventions into a US airstrike on a hospital in northern Afghanistan that killed at least 22 people. | Médecins sans Frontières has called for an independent inquiry under the Geneva conventions into a US airstrike on a hospital in northern Afghanistan that killed at least 22 people. |
| The medical charity said the investigation, which can be set up at the request of a single state under the conventions, would gather facts and evidence from the US, Nato and Afghanistan. | The medical charity said the investigation, which can be set up at the request of a single state under the conventions, would gather facts and evidence from the US, Nato and Afghanistan. |
| “If we let this go, we are basically giving a blank cheque to any countries at war,” Joanne Liu, MSF international president said. | “If we let this go, we are basically giving a blank cheque to any countries at war,” Joanne Liu, MSF international president said. |
| The investigation would be a first step, aimed to establish facts about the incident and the chain of command that led to the strike, MSF said. Only then would it decide whether to bring criminal charges for loss of life and damage. | The investigation would be a first step, aimed to establish facts about the incident and the chain of command that led to the strike, MSF said. Only then would it decide whether to bring criminal charges for loss of life and damage. |
| The Geneva conventions are a set of treaties regarding humanitarian issues of civilians and combatants in wartime. | The Geneva conventions are a set of treaties regarding humanitarian issues of civilians and combatants in wartime. |
| MSF’s call for an investigation was supported on Wednesday by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which said it would welcome any impartial investigation into what happened in Kunduz. | |
| “We have always been supportive of the IHFFC [the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission]. If it can help to clarify the facts surrounding this tragic incident which led to the deaths of medical staff and patients in a health care facility, which should be protected under the laws of armed conflict, that would be a positive development,” said Helen Durham, the ICRC’s director of international law and policy. | |
| MSF’s appeal followed an admission by the US that American special operations forces – not their Afghan allies – called in the deadly airstrike on the MSF hospital in Kunduz. | |
| Related: Doctors Without Borders airstrike: US alters story for fourth time in four days | Related: Doctors Without Borders airstrike: US alters story for fourth time in four days |
| Gen John Campbell, the commander of the US and Nato war in Afghanistan, reiterated before a Senate panel that Afghan forces had requested US air cover after being engaged in a “tenacious fight” to retake Kunduz from the Taliban. | Gen John Campbell, the commander of the US and Nato war in Afghanistan, reiterated before a Senate panel that Afghan forces had requested US air cover after being engaged in a “tenacious fight” to retake Kunduz from the Taliban. |
| But, modifying the account he gave at a press conference on Monday, Campbell said those Afghan forces had not directly communicated with the US pilots of an AC-130 gunship overhead. “Even though the Afghans request that support, it still has to go through a rigorous US procedure to enable fires to go on the ground. We had a special operations unit that was in close vicinity that was talking to the aircraft that delivered those fires,” Campbell told the Senate armed services committee on Tuesday morning. | But, modifying the account he gave at a press conference on Monday, Campbell said those Afghan forces had not directly communicated with the US pilots of an AC-130 gunship overhead. “Even though the Afghans request that support, it still has to go through a rigorous US procedure to enable fires to go on the ground. We had a special operations unit that was in close vicinity that was talking to the aircraft that delivered those fires,” Campbell told the Senate armed services committee on Tuesday morning. |
| The airstrike on the hospital was among the worst and most visible cases of civilian deaths caused by US forces during the 14-year war that Barack Obama declared all but over. It killed 12 MSF staff as well as 10 patients who had sought medical treatment after the Taliban overran Kunduz last weekend. Three children died in the airstrike, which came in multiple waves and burned patients alive in their beds. | The airstrike on the hospital was among the worst and most visible cases of civilian deaths caused by US forces during the 14-year war that Barack Obama declared all but over. It killed 12 MSF staff as well as 10 patients who had sought medical treatment after the Taliban overran Kunduz last weekend. Three children died in the airstrike, which came in multiple waves and burned patients alive in their beds. |
| As is routine practice for MSF in conflict areas, it had communicated the exact location of the hospital to all parties in the conflict. MSF said the bombing took place despite the fact that it had provided the GPS coordinates of the trauma hospital to coalition and Afghan military and civilian officials as recently as Tuesday 29 September, to avoid the hospital being hit. | As is routine practice for MSF in conflict areas, it had communicated the exact location of the hospital to all parties in the conflict. MSF said the bombing took place despite the fact that it had provided the GPS coordinates of the trauma hospital to coalition and Afghan military and civilian officials as recently as Tuesday 29 September, to avoid the hospital being hit. |