Kabul: Medical charity MSF said on Sunday that it has withdrawn staff from the embattled Afghan city of Kunduz, a day after an apparent US bombing raid on its hospital which the UN said could amount to a war crime.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said 19 people were killed, some of whom burned to death in their beds as the bombardment continued for more than an hour, even after US and Afghan authorities were informed the hospital had been hit.
It is the only medical facility in the whole northeastern region of Afghanistan that can deal with major war injuries and its closure, even temporarily, could have a devastating impact on local civilians.
“The MSF hospital is not functional anymore. All critical patients have been referred to other health facilities and no MSF staff are working in our hospital,” a spokeswoman for the charity said.
“I can’t confirm at this stage whether our Kunduz trauma centre will re-open, or not.” The charity condemned Saturday’s raids as “abhorrent and a grave violation of international law”, demanding answers from US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.
It said Afghan and coalition troops were fully aware of the exact location of the hospital, having been given GPS co-ordinates of a facility it said had been providing care for four years.
US vows probe into air strikes
The US President Barack Obama has promised on Sunday a thorough investigation into an apparent US air strike on an Afghan hospital that killed 19 people, a bombing which the UN said could amount to a war crime.
“Twelve staff members and at least seven patients, including three children, were killed; 37 people were injured,” the charity said. The air raid came days after Taliban fighters seized control of the strategic northern city of Kunduz, in their most spectacular victory since being toppled from power by a US-led coalition in 2001. Afghan forces claimed to have wrestled back control of the city.
But the defence ministry said “a group of armed terrorists... were using the hospital building as a position to target Afghan forces and civilians”.
