US admits firing on Afghan MSF hospital was ‘a mistake’

World Today

The U.S. military now says that an air strike on a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan last month was a mistake. Human error compounded by technical problems and procedural missteps led a U.S. military airplane last month to target the MSF Hospital, in an attack that left 30 people dead.

CCTV America’s Jim Spellman reports from Washington.

The report finds the flight crew took off more than an hour early that day, before the pilots could be fully briefed about nearby civilian facilities around their target, which included the hospital that was mistakenly attacked, according to the U.S. military. The intended target was a compound the Taliban had seized days earlier which was very close to the mistakenly attacked hospital, the U.S. military says.

The location of the hospital in Kunduz was well known to U.S. forces. Technical problems with the AC-130 gunship limited communications with ground crews. By the time the flight crew knew they were hitting the wrong target, the attack was over.

U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan is currently working hand-in-hand with Doctors Without Borders to identify the dead and injured along with their families in order to offer the appropriate condolences, apologies and help.

The U.S. Air Force says it will also send payments to the wounded and families of those killed. The U.S. is also rebuilding the hospital.

CCTV America