Medical charity MSF on Wedensday demanded an international probe into a deadly US air strike on an Afghan hospital, after reports said NATO’s top regional commander thought American forces broke their own rules of engagement.
Three separate investigations — by the US military, NATO and Afghan officials —are currently under way into Saturday’s catastrophic strike in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz. But the charity, which condemned the attack as a war crime, stressed the need for an international inquiry, saying the bombing raid that killed 22 people was in contravention of the Geneva Conventions.
“We cannot rely on an internal military investigation,” Doctors Without Borders (MSF) chief Joanne liu told reporters in Geneva, insisting that an “international humanitarian fact-finding commission” should probe the bombing.
“This was not just an attack on our hospital, it was an attack on the Geneva Conventions. This cannot be tolerated,” liu said.