On this day in 2015, the US Air Force committed a serious war crime by "repeatedly and precisely" attacking a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 42 patients and medical staff and injuring over 30 more. 
The bombing took place despite the fact that MSF had provided the GPS coordinates of the hospital to the US Coalition just days before the attack. The attack also continued for 30 min. after MSF alerted US officials the hospital had come under attack.
“The bombs hit & then we heard the plane circle round,” said Heman Nagarathnam, MSF head of programs in North Afghanistan. "There was a pause then more bombs hit. This happened again & again. When I made it out from the office, the main hospital building was engulfed in flames."
Dr Kathleen Thomas who survived the attack described what she saw:
Baynazar Mohammad Nazar, a 43 year-old father of four was killed in the US attack while he was on the operating table. foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/03/the…
Doctors Without Borders called for an independent investigation to the incident, which it called a war crime. However, the US government investigated itself and essentially covered up the attack.
The US government claimed to punish 16 American military personnel for their roles in the strike, but none faced criminal charges.
Hospitals in war zones are protected under the 4th Geneva Convention. Former International Criminal Tribunal prosecutor M. Cherif Bassiouni suggested that the attack could be prosecuted as a war crime if the attack was intentional or if it represented gross negligence.
Nonetheless, Bassiouni said it is unlikely that the case will ever be tried in an international court, because "the U.S. is unlikely to turn any of their service members over to an outside body for prosecution.”
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
