You are going to hear this abominable phrase a lot over the coming days.
The US has apologized to the Afghan Government for bombing an Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz Afghanistan.
The head of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan apologized to the country's president after a hospital run by Medecins Sans Frontieres was bombed, killing at least nine people, the president's office said.Army General John Campbell provided details to President Ashraf Ghani and apologized, a statement from Ghani's office said.A spokeswoman for the international coalition could not immediately confirm that Campbell phoned Ghani but said she was checking.
The hospital was well marked.
The co-ordinates of the hospital had been given to all warring parties.
I suppose some will give the usual reply "stuff happens in war".
Both NATO and the Afghan government seem to have been informed that the hospital was being bombed during the incident and the bombing continued for a further 30 minutes.
REUTERS - A U.S. air strike hit a hospital run by Medecins Sans Frontieres in the Afghan city of Kunduz on Saturday, killing at least 20 staff members and injuring dozens more, an MSF source told The Guardian. He added the death toll could further rise in what the U.S. military called possible "collateral damage" in the battle to oust Taliban insurgents.
The bombing continued for 30 minutes after staff raised the alarm to U.S. and Afghan military officials, the aid group said.
This requires a UN lead investigation and should be independent of the warring parties.
Oopsey our bad, will not be enough.
I don't care what the other side is doing or not, I don't care who has the white hat option.
This comes under our governments military actions and they are responsible for them.
It is not collateral damage, it is bloody murder, stop trying to window dress the brutal reality.
What the fuck we are still doing in Afghanistan beats the hell out of me.
Who is the good guy with the gun?
There aren't any.
Stuff doesn't just bloody happen, there is a reason why it does.
Beyond my anger there is a deep and abiding sadness, to all that have lost loved ones I am beyond words, my tears and prayers for you all.
8:01 AM PT: An airstrike on a hospital in Afghanistan, apparently launched by US forces, has killed at least 16 people including nine medical charity workers and three child patients.
http://www.theguardian.com/...
8:16 AM PT: Known victims
A doctor, Ehsan Osmani, 25, was working the intensive care unit at the Kunduz hospital when the airstrike occurred, according to a close friend and colleague.
Zabihullah Pashtoonyar
Pashtoonyar had been working as a security guard at the MSF hospital for three months before the strike, having returned to Kunduz from Pakistan eight years ago.
Akbar was 22 when he was killed in the bombardment on Saturday morning, his cousin Nasratullah told the Guardian.
“He had been working in the hospital for a long time. He was a famous doctor,” he said. He is believed to be one of several doctors in their 20s killed in the blast.
A doctor at the hospital for five years, Dr Aminullah Salahzai was 31 when he died. He is believed to have been married and was originally from Chardara, an area close to Kunduz.
Another doctor, Zahir worked at the hospital for more than three years before the attack and was also married, according to colleagues.
http://www.theguardian.com/...
If you would like to send flowers
You can find your nearest address here
http://www.msf.org/...
10:02 AM PT: The US-led air strike on a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz that killed at least 19 people, including nine staff of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) was "inexcusable" and possibly criminal, UN's human rights chief said, as Pentagon ordered an investigation into the deadly raid.
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein called for a full and transparent investigation, noting that, "if established as deliberate in a court of law, an air strike on a hospital may amount to a war crime".
"This event is utterly tragic, inexcusable and possibly even criminal," Zeid said in a statement.
http://www.aljazeera.com/...
12:52 PM PT: “This attack is abhorrent and a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” said Meinie Nicolai, MSF’s president. “We demand total transparency from coalition forces. We cannot accept that this horrific loss of life will simply be dismissed as ‘collateral damage’.”
Jonathan Whittall, the charity’s head of humanitarian analysis, added: “MSF demands clarity on exactly what took place at our hospital in Kunduz and how this unacceptable event could have happened.”
http://www.theguardian.com/...