Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has said at least 16 people, including
nine of its staff have been killed in an overnight bombing of a hospital
in the embattled Afghan city of Kunduz. Among the fatalities in the
early Saturday morning attack were three children. It also wounded 37
people, including 19 MSF staff, the medical charity told Al Jazeera.
Aljazeera reports:
In a statement on Saturday, the office of President
Ashraf Ghani said Army General John Campbell, head of the US-led forces
in Afghanistan has apologised for the incident. Officials of MSF
earlier told Reuters that they “frantically phoned” NATO and Washington
DC, as bombs rained on the hospital for “nearly an hour”. Pentagon has
also acknowledged launching the air strike “against individuals
threatening the force”.
“The strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby
medical facility. This incident is under investigation.” Earlier, NATO
said that a US air strike “may have” hit the hospital, which is run by
the medical charity, adding that the attack may have resulted in
collateral damage.
The MSF hospital is seen as a key medical lifeline in Kunduz, which
has been running “beyond capacity” in recent days of fighting which saw
the Taliban seize control of the provincial capital for several days.
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