US, Afghan Forces Commit War Crime in Afghan Kunduz

The US forces' attack on hospital in Afghan city of Kunduz could not be classified as a mistake because the hospital administration had regularly shared its coordinates with the authorities, according to the tstement of the international medical organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United States and Afghanistan are responsible for committing a war crime in the Afghan city of Kunduz, the international medical organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said in a statement Tuesday.

On Saturday, a hospital in Kunduz, accommodating some 200 people, was hit by an hour-long series of aerial bombing raids, injuring at least 37 and killing 22 people, including 12 MSF staff.

“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,” according to the statement.

The statement added that the attack could not be classified as a mistake because the hospital administration had regularly shared its coordinates with the authorities.

MSF also said that the attack on the hospital undermined the core principles of humanitarian work.

On September 28, Taliban militants seized the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, dislodging government forces from the city. After reinforcements arrived, the Afghan National Army, backed by US airstrikes, began an offensive operation to regain control of the city.