US Airstrikes Hit Doctors in Afghanistan as 'People Tried to Flee,' New Review Finds

The Remains Of MSF Hospital

ABC reports; Doctors Without Borders today released an internal review of the U.S. attack on its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, citing accounts that some people were shot as they tried to escape the main building.

The report revealed new insight into what the humanitarian group says happened on the night of Oct. 3, when U.S. airstrikes mistakenly killed 30 MSF hospital staff and patients.

“Many staff describe seeing people being shot, most likely from the plane, as people tried to flee the main hospital building that was being hit with each airstrike,” reads the report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), as the organization is known internationally. “Some accounts mention shooting that appears to follow the movement of people on the run.” 

MSF says 105 patients were in the hospital at the time of the attack, 20 of whom were wounded Taliban fighters.

The strikes began sometime after 2 a.m. and lasted for about an hour and 15 minutes despite repeated calls and texts from MSF to Resolute Support in Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense and the Afghan government. 

At 2:47 a.m., a text was sent from MSF in Kabul to Resolute Support in Afghanistan saying “one staff was confirmed dead and many were unaccounted for,” according to MSF.

Five minutes later, a reply from Resolute Support stated, “I’m sorry to hear that, I still do not know what happened.”

At 2:56 a.m., another text to Resolute Support asked for an end to the airstrikes and reported that there were “heavy casualties.”

At 2:59 a.m., the response from Resolute Support said, “I’ll do my best, praying for you all.”

The report reiterates MSF’s previous statements that there were no armed combatants inside the hospital at the time of the attack.

“From all MSF accounts, there was no shooting from or around the Trauma Centre and the compound was in full MSF control with our rules and procedures fully respected,” the report says