MSF Says US Purpose of Hospital Attack Was to Kill and Destroy

The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) released an internal review Thursday of the deadly Oct. 3 airstrikes by the U.S. military on its hospital in the northern city of Kunduz in Afghanistan.

The document said the events leading up to the bombing did not show any grounds for the attack. There were no armed combatants or fighting on or from the hospital grounds and the “no weapons policy” inside the facility was in place. The hospital was fully under the control of the MSF staff, according to report.

.@MSF is releasing an internal document with a view from inside our hospital in #kunduz https://t.co/TA59r6uCP8 pic.twitter.com/Ywse9AMNdO — MSF International (@MSF) November 5, 201

“The view from inside the hospital is that this attack was conducted with a purpose to kill and destroy,” said MSF General Director Christopher Stokes. “But we don’t know why. We don’t have the view from the cockpit, nor what happened within the U.S. and Afghan military chains of command.”

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The review suggested that some buildings within the hospital compound were left completely untouched. The main hospital building was targeted with “a series of multiple, precise and sustained airstrikes, leaving the rest of the buildings in the MSF compound comparatively untouched,” Sophie-Jane Madden, MSF United Kingdom Media Manager, told teleSUR English Thursday.

The fact that the other buildings were not hit suggests that the U.S. military used the GPS coordinates provided to them by the aid group itself to carry out the airstrikes. “This specific building of the hospital correlates exactly with the GPS coordinates provided to the parties to the conflict (GPS coordinates were taken directly in front of the main hospital building that was hit in the airstrikes),” Madden added.

The report said the attack took place in the middle of the night and lasted for approximately an hour. “According to all accounts the U.S. airstrikes started between 2:00 a.m. and 2:08 a.m. on 3 October. Despite it being in the middle of the night, the MSF hospital was busy and fully functional at the time of the airstrike,” the report stated.

Some authorities say that attack was justified because it was an armed opposition base. We are releasing review to set the record straight. — Kate Stegeman (@KatesCurious) November 5, 201

The review describes patients burning in their beds, medical staff who were decapitated and lost limbs, and others who were shot from the air while they fled the burning building. Some accounts by witnesses say shootings appeared to follow the movement of people on the run.

According to MSF staff cited in the report, the first room that was hit was the Intensive Care Unit where MSF staff were caring for a number of patients, some of whom were on ventilators, including two children.

The review said those at the ICU were killed immediately when the airstrike started. “Immobile patients in the ICU burned in their beds. After hitting the ICU, the airstrikes then continued from the east to west end of the main hospital building.” The report said that there were 140 MSF staff present at the hospital at the time of the attack.

In the days leading up to the attack and on the day of the attack, the report states, an agreement between the MSF and all parties to the conflict to respect the neutrality of the hospital was in place, based on international humanitarian law.

Flag that was on #Kunduz hospital roof when attacked is seen at the press conference. It's big. p/v: @KatesCurious pic.twitter.com/zLvpb3BBCT — b9AcE (@b9AcE) November 5, 201

Commenting on the impact the attack and the initial review would have on MSF staff and operations, Madden warned that the bombing raises the question of whether international war conventions still applied.

“The Geneva conventions are rules designed to keep hospitals as safe places in war zones across the world. This is why it is so important for us to have an independent investigation into the bombing which caused the death of more than 30 patients and staff in horrific circumstances and the destruction of a hospital that served thousands of people,” said Madden. “We need to know if the rules of war still apply.”

The review also includes the details of the provision of the GPS coordinates and the log of phone calls from MSF to military authorities in attempts to stop the airstrikes. The report also said that among the 105 patients at the time of the airstrikes, there combatants from government forces and from the Taliban group as well as civilians.

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“Some public reports are circulating that the attack on our hospital could be justified because we were treating Taliban,” said Stokes. “Wounded combatants are patients under international law, and must be free from attack and treated without discrimination. Medical staff should never be punished or attacked for providing treatment to wounded combatants.”

The review concluded that the total number of dead from the attack is known to be at least 30, “including: 10 known patients, 13 known staff, and 7 more bodies that were burnt beyond recognition and are still under the process of being identified.”

Asked about accountability, Madden said the group's more urgent goal was seeking facts. “We are calling for the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission be activated to establish the facts of the airstrike and reassert the protected status of hospitals in war zones”.

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