In this Oct. 16, 2015, file photo, an employee of Doctors Without Borders stands inside the charred remains of their hospital after it was hit by a U.S. airstrike in Kunduz, Afghanistan.
Najim Rahim / AP
Sixteen U.S. military personnel have received administrative punishment for mistakes leading to the bombing of a civilian hospital in Afghanistan last year that killed 42 people, a senior U.S. official told the Associated Press.
No criminal charges have been filed, according to the AP.
On October 3, 2015, a U.S. air force gunship attacked a Kunduz hospital, opened by Doctors Without Borders, killing 42 and injuring at least 30.
The U.S. military initially said the strike was carried out to defend U.S. military personnel under fire by the Taliban.
Three days later, United States commander in Afghanistan, General John F. Campbell, said that it was in fact Afghan forces who were under attack and requested the strike.
“To be clear, the decision to provide aerial fire was a U.S. decision made within the U.S. chain of command,” Campbell said during his testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
He called the strikes “a mistake.”
“We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility,” Campbell said.
A U.S. Department of Defense investigation found the aircraft fired 211 shells at the hospital over a 29-minute period before anyone realized they had made a mistake.
Doctors Without Borders, which is also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has called the attack on the hospital a “war crime” and demanded an independent investigation.
After the bombings, MSF president Meinie Nicolai said it was an “abhorrent and a grave violation of international humanitarian law.”
“We demand total transparency from coalition forces,” she said. “We cannot accept that this horrific loss of life will simply be dismissed as ‘collateral damage.’”
A full report on the Pentagon’s investigation of the incident is expected to be released on Friday.
BuzzFeed News has reached out to MSF about the disciplinary actions.
LINK: U.S. Changes Narrative Of Airstrike That Hit Médecins Sans Frontières Clinic In Afghanistan
LINK: U.S. Says Bombing Of Afghan Hospital Was Due To “Avoidable Human Error”
LINK: Top U.S. Commander In Afghanistan Calls Hospital Bombing A “Mistake”
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