US Troops Reprimanded Over Afghan Hospital Attack That Killed 42

March 18th, 2016

Awake Goy

The US military has disciplined over a dozen service members for the air strike on Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, that killed 42 people last year.

The U.S. has acknowledged that the clinic was struck 120 times by mistake. No personnel will face criminal charges, according to the Pentagon.

The BBC reports:

The Associated Press reported that the sanctions, which were not made public, were mostly administrative.

Some received formal reprimands while others were suspended from duty.

Both officers and enlisted personnel were disciplined, but no generals were punished.

A spokeswoman for MSF said the medical charity would not comment until the Pentagon made the details public.

The disciplinary action was the result of a Pentagon investigation into the attack. A report on that investigation is expected to be made public next week.

In October, a US gunship fired on the hospital in the city of Kunduz. Taliban fighters had recently retaken the city after US-led forces drove them out in 2001.

Afghan officials said the building had been taken over by Taliban fighters, but no evidence has been found to back those claims.

The group said the incident constituted “violations of the rules of war”. The hospital was destroyed and MSF pulled out of Kunduz after the attack.

Army Gen John Campbell, the top US commander in Afghanistan at the time, called the incident a “tragic but avoidable accident caused primarily by human error”.

US President Barack Obama apologised for the air strike, which was one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in 15-year Afghan conflict. hospital