MSF leaves Kunduz after fatal airstrike

AFP, KABUL: Medical charity MSF said Sunday it has withdrawn staff from the embattled Afghan city of Kunduz, a day after an apparent US bombing raid on its hospital which the UN said could amount to a war crime.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said 19 people were killed, some of whom burned to death in their beds as the bombardment continued for more than an hour, even after US and Afghan authorities were informed the hospital had been hit.
It is the only medical facility in the whole northeastern region of Afghanistan that can deal with major war injuries and its closure, even temporarily, could have a devastating impact on local civilians.
“The MSF hospital is not functional anymore. All critical patients have been referred to other health facilities and no MSF staff are working in our hospital,” a spokeswoman for the charity told AFP.
“I can’t confirm at this stage whether our Kunduz trauma centre will re-open, or not.”
The charity condemned Saturday’s raids as “abhorrent and a grave violation of international law”, demanding answers from US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.
It said Afghan and coalition troops were fully aware of the exact location of the hospital, having been given GPS co-ordinates of a facility it said had been providing care for four years.
It added that despite frantic calls to military officials in Kabul and Washington, the main building housing the intensive care unit and emergency rooms was “repeatedly, very precisely” hit almost every 15 minutes for more than an hour.
MSF said some 105 patients and their caregivers, as well as more than 80 international and local MSF staff, were in the hospital at the time of the bombing.

MSF leaves Kunduz after fatal airstrike

AFP, KABUL: Medical charity MSF said Sunday it has withdrawn staff from the embattled Afghan city of Kunduz, a day after an apparent US bombing raid on its hospital which the UN said could amount to a war crime. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said 19 people were killed, some of whom burned to death in their beds as the bombardment continued for more than an hour, even after US and Afghan authorities were informed the hospital had been hit. It is the only medical facility in the whole northeastern region of Afghanistan that can deal with major war injuries and its closure, even temporarily, could have a devastating impact on local civilians. The MSF hospital is not functional anymore. All critical patients have been referred to other health facilities and no MSF staff are working in our hospital, a spokeswoman for the charity told AFP. I cant confirm at this stage whether our Kunduz trauma centre will re-open, or not. The charity condemned Saturdays raids as abhorrent and a grave violation of international law, demanding answers from US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan. It said Afghan and coalition troops were fully aware of the exact location of the hospital, having been given GPS co-ordinates of a facility it said had been providing care for four years. It added that despite frantic calls to military officials in Kabul and Washington, the main building housing the intensive care unit and emergency rooms was repeatedly, very precisely hit almost every 15 minutes for more than an hour. MSF said some 105 patients and their caregivers, as well as more than 80 international and local MSF staff, were in the hospital at the time of the bombing.