U.S. Government Releases Report on 2015 Airstrikes Against MSF Hospital in Afghanistan (April 29, 2016) [1]
On April 29, 2016, the U.S. government released a report [3] detailing the results of its investigation into the October 3, 2015 bombing of a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan by U.S. forces. According to the press briefing [4], an American AC-130 gunship was attempting to support U.S. Special Forces and Afghan troops engaged in a prolonged battle with Taliban forces in Kunduz City when it mistakenly fired upon a hospital. The trauma center was being operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international non-governmental organization also known by its English name, Doctors Without Borders. The report details a chain or errors that resulted in the hospital being misidentified as a nearby building from which Taliban forces were thought to be operating. The errors include fatigue of the forces on the ground relaying targeting information to the aircrew; the aircraft’s early departure from its airfield, before coordinates of protected sites were uploaded to its targeting system; a malfunction of the targeting system after the aircraft diverted from its course to avoid hostile fire; and human error, including failure to follow basic precautions. According to reports [5], sustained bombardment of the hospital resulted in the deaths of forty-two civilians, including hospital staff and patients. An additional thirty civilians reportedly sustained injuries. A summary [6] of the 120-page report states the report’s key findings, including that U.S. troops violated the laws of armed conflict and their own rules of engagement, both of which require forces to take adequate precaution in attack. The report states that U.S. forces both on the ground and in the air “failed to identify the MSF trauma center as a lawful target . . . [t]herefore, it should have been presumed to be a civilian compound.” However, the report concluded that no war crimes had been committed by U.S. forces because they did not intend to target the hospital. The summary states that “[t]he label ‘war crimes’ is typically reserved for intentional acts—intentionally targeting civilians or intentionally targeting protected objects” and “none of the personnel knew that they were striking a medical facility.” Responding to the release of the report, MSF reiterated [7] its calls for an independent, international investigation of the incident.