US Gunship Repeatedly Pounded Clearly Identified Hospital

Plane Made Five Runs Despite 9-Foot Flag Identifying Site

A new press conference by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) allowed them to lay out strong evidence for their claims that the US deliberately attacked what they knew was an MSF hospital on the outskirts of Kunduz, a strike which killed at least 22, and left dozens of others missing.

MSF revealed today that not only was the hospital directly hit, but it was the only building in the entire compound that was struck, and was struck repeatedly for nearly an entire hour, with the gunship making five distinct passes over the hospital, firing on it each time.

The attacks continued even though MSF contacted the US after the first strike, warning them they were hitting the hospital, and the site was hit over and over despite this warning, and even though there is a 9-foot flag draped across the roof identifying it as a protected medical facility.

The US insists that the site was “mistakenly” hit, and that they had no idea it was a hospital that they were repeatedly attacking, but that they were told by the Afghan military they came under fire from the compound. Interestingly, though the Afghans claimed Taliban were on the site, there was no evidence of any firing elsewhere in the compound, and again, only the hospital itself was hit.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.