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Air strike on Afghanistan hospital was a mistake: US

by IBNS 06 Oct 2015, 09:26 pm

Washington, Oct 7 (IBNS): US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has expressed his regret over the loss of lives in a U.S. military airstrike on a hospital in Afghanistan.

"Today, Commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan General John Campbell informed Congress that a U.S. military airstrike in Kunduz, Afghanistan, to support Afghan forces on the ground resulted in a mistaken attack on a Doctors Without Borders field hospital,"
Carter said in a statement.

"Doctors Without Borders does important work all around the world, and the Department of Defense deeply regrets the loss of innocent lives that resulted from this tragic event. The investigation into how this could have happened is continuing, and we are fully supporting NATO and Afghanistan's concurrent investigations. We will complete our investigation as soon as possible and provide the facts as they become available," he said.

He said an investigation has been ordered into the incident.

"The U.S. military takes the greatest care in our operations to prevent the loss of innocent life, and when we make mistakes, we own up to them. That's exactly what we're doing right now. Through a full and transparent investigation, we will do everything we can to understand this tragic incident, learn from it, and hold people accountable as necessary," he said.

The international medical organization Doctors Without Borders or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) earlier condemned the strike.

"The international medical organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific aerial bombing of its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan," the organization said in a statement.

Twelve staff members and at least 10 patients, including three children, were killed; 37 people were injured including 19 staff members, it said.