US military investigation of hospital bombing insufficient, says MSF

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has repeated its call for an independent investigation into last October’s attack on the charity’s hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, after a US military investigation ended with recommendations for administrative punishments against 16 unnamed servicemen, but no charges.1

“The investigation found that the incident resulted from a combination of unintentional human errors, process errors, and equipment failures, and that none of the personnel knew that they were striking a hospital,” said General Joseph Votel, who heads US Central Command and presented the report at a Pentagon press conference.

“The label ‘war crimes’ is typically reserved for intentional acts—intentionally targeting civilians or intentionally targeting protected objects or locations,” …