Adding yet more outrage to last month’s US attack on a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, MSF has revealed that several of the slain staff members, including doctors were shot by US pilots while trying to flee from the bombed hospital into other parts of the compound.
The US attacked the functioning hospital in an overnight strike on October 3, following troops calling in the attack at the behest of Afghan forces. There were over 100 patients within. At least 30 civilians were killed, including both civilians and staff members.
The Pentagon has repeatedly changed their narrative for how the attack happened, but insists that it was a “mistake.” The White House is opposing MSF calls for an international investigation, saying the internal Pentagon probe will be sufficient. The Pentagon has delayed this probe indefinitely.
The Pentagon refused to comment on the shooting of fleeing doctors, citing the ongoing investigation, such as it is, but reiterated their intention to pay “condolence payments” to the families of people slain in the attack, and intends to repair the hospital, badly damaged in the bombing and even more damaged when Pentagon forces smashed into it during the investigation.
Still not too late to call them all Ghadafi-supporters. And you could keep calling it a 'compound' for a month or so…
The people running this country are driving what is ever left of our moral compass over the cliff. Disgusting use of our tax dollars. God help us.
Disgusting. The pentagon, the U.S. President, those psychotic criminals who flew the plane and did the shooting, and the chain of command in between have forever disgraced the entire U.S. military. Upon knowing about this massacre, how can anybody wear a U.S. military uniform with clear conscience.
Somewhere in the US military, there is a pilot or pilots who know they were the ones who committed these murders. They will have to wrestle with this fact every day for the rest of their miserable lives. They may escape legal punishment, but their consciences will have to burn with guilt forever.
Anyone still surprised by the evil and stupidity emanating from the Pentagon these days?
If this had even been the first hospital the gullible might have doubts but this is another in a long string of hospitals. The Pentagon considers them a prime target. The Pentagon reminds me of the scenes in WWII movies when the evil NAZI or Jap pilots strafe sailors after sinking their ship to show how evil the bastards are.
I don't know yet if the US airforce really considers hospital prime targets . But in the KLA AlQaida war against Serbia Milosevic said the US airforce hit more hospitals than tanks . So you are right this is not the first hospital bombed . I just hope it is the last .
Even if there had been Taliban fighters in the hospital, all (unarmed) doctors and patients in that hospital are protected persons under the laws of the Geneva Convention. What does that mean? It means that an attacker, in this case the plane and its crew, were still obliged to do their utmost to protect these persons. Shooting at and killing persons for which you have no evidence that they are not protected by the Convention (armed Taliban fighters would have been in that category) is a war crime. Given the new evidence there can be no longer any doubt that a war crime was committed. The issue is what will President Obama, the CiC do about it?
Why are we only hearing this now? In fact, MSF are shooting themselves in the foot. "Revelations" made at this late stage sound like fabrications. I suppose these "day-by-day" revelations are designed to keep the story fresh and divert our attention from Putin's political disaster in Sinai. Also, MSF has also claimed that Russian planes attacked one of their hospitals in Syria. Why are we not getting similar revelations about that attack? Pretext politics!
Since when has the elite international community obeyed the Geneva convention . The Geneva convention is for other countries to obey not the rulers of the universe
USA is no better than ISIS.
Considering the bombimg of a msf hospital in Yemen this appears to be a designed operation. A warning to everyone who would dare try to work in the country to be bombed and destroyed. This is clearly what they wanted to do.