US says it 'mistakenly struck' Afghan hospital in attack that killed 22 people

Gen John Campbell was giving testimony on Capitol Hill

Medical staff in the immediate aftermath of an airstrike against their hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan (AP)

A senior US military commander has said his forces did not mean to strike the hospital in Afghanistan in an operation that resulted in the deaths of 22 people - claiming “we would never intentionally target a protected medical facility”.

In testimony on Capitol Hill that appeared to change the US’s position on the incident once again, Gen John Campbell said the attack on the hospital in Kunduz took place despite “rigorous”military procedures designed to avoid such mistakes.

“To be clear, the decision to provide [airstrikes] was a U.S. decision, made within the U.S. chain of command,” he told the Senate Arms Services Committee, according to the Associated Press.

“The hospital was mistakenly struck. We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility.”

Gen John Campbell testified on Tuesday on Capitol Hill (AP)

Testifying three days after the medical clinic strike that killed at least 22 people, Mr Campbell said Afghan forces had requested air support in the early hours of Saturday while engaged in combat with Taliban fighters.

The Afghan forces were communicating with US special operations troops at the scene. Those US forces were in contact with the AC-130 gunship that fired on the medical clinic run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), he added.

MSF has said it considers the attack a war crime and has called for an independent inquiry of what happened.

“Their description of the attack keeps changing - from collateral damage, to a tragic incident, to now attempting to pass responsibility to the Afghanistan government,” said Christopher Stokes, general director for MSF.


 In his appearance before the senators, Mr Campbell said he could not provide more details about what happened, including who may have failed to follow procedures for avoiding attacks on hospitals. He said he must await the outcome of multiple investigations.
 (AP)

Anti-war protesters sat in the front row of Tuesday’s hearing with red colouring, depicting blood, on their faces. They carried signs that read: “Healthcare not warfare”. A woman who shouted “bombing hospitals is a war crime! Stop the bombing now”, was escorted from the room.

The airstrike came amid ongoing fighting after Taliban forces seized control of large parts of the city a week ago.

Mr Campbell also told a Senate committee that he thought President Barack Obama should revise the current plan to reduce the US force in Afghanistan at the end of 2016. The plan calls for cutting the force from 9,800 to about 1,000 embassy-based security.

“If you go to just embassy only, our ability to do TAA (train, advise and assist) is very limited. Our ability to do CT (counterterror operations) is much more limited,” Mr Campbell said.