News / Afghanistan

MSF reiterates attack on Kunduz clinic was war crime

Tuesday, 06 October 2015 7:02 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 06 October 2015 7:22 PM ]

In this photograph released by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on October 3, 2015, fires burn in part of the MSF hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz after it was hit by an airstrike. (AFP photo)

Doctors Without Borders says Afghan and US forces together “decided” to destroy its clinic in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, reiterating that the fatal attack amounts to a war crime.

“Statements from the Afghanistan government have claimed that Taliban forces were using the hospital to fire on Coalition forces. These statements imply that Afghan and US forces working together decided to raze to the ground a fully functioning hospital, which amounts to an admission of a war crime,” said the president of MSF International, Joanne Liu, in a statement on Tuesday.

Doctors Without Border is also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

Officials at the MSF have called for an immediate investigation into the fatal attack of October 3. The MSF has rejected such an investigation by the Pentagon, arguing that the US Department of Defense is involved in the incident.

The MSF said in a statement that at 2:10 a.m. local time on October 3 (2040 GMT) its trauma center in Kunduz was hit several times. It added that the aerial assault continued for more than half an hour after US and Afghan military officials in Kabul and Washington were first informed. Over 20 people, including MSF staff, died in the attack.

Kunduz has been the scene of fierce battles between the Taliban and Afghan forces since the militant group captured the strategic city in a blitz on September 28. Kabul has declared Kunduz fully retaken although there are still reports of clashes in various areas of the city.

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