Sun Oct 4, 2015 | 11:26 AM EDT
By Mirwais Harooni and Andrew MacAskill
KABUL (Reuters) -
Medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres denied that Taliban fighters were firing from its hospital at Afghan and NATO forces before a suspected U.S. air strike killed at least 19 people in a battle to oust the Islamist insurgents from an Afghan city.
Fighting raged around the northern provincial
capital of Kunduz for a seventh day as
government forces backed by American air
power seek to drive out Taliban militants who
seized the city almost a week ago.
Decomposing bodies littered the streets and
residents said that food was scarce.
MSF has said an air strike, probably carried out by U.S.-led coalition forces, killed 19 staff and patients on Saturday in a hospital it runs in Kunduz, leaving 37 wounded.
The U.S. military said it conducted an air strike
"in the vicinity" of the hospital, as it targeted
Taliban insurgents who were directly firing on
U.S. military personnel.
The U.S.-led coalition force in Afghanistan said
it expected to complete a preliminary multi-
national investigation in days into whether an
air strike it conducted hit the hospital.
The bombing deals a blow to Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani's policy of forging closer ties with
the United States after his predecessor Hamid
Karzai fell out with his backers in Washington in part over the number of civilians killed by
bombs. But the Afghan leader will be torn between distancing himself from Washington and the need for American firepower to help his forces drive insurgents out of Kunduz after the Taliban's biggest victory in the nearly 14-year- old war.
President Barack Obama said the defense
department had ordered a full investigation and he offered condolences to the victims of what he called "the tragic incident".
The U.N. human rights chief said the hospital assault was "inexcusable" and could amount to a war crime.
In Kabul, the Afghan Ministry of Defence said
Taliban fighters had attacked the hospital and
were using the building "as a human shield". But the medical aid group denied this.
"The gates of the hospital compound were
closed all night so no one that is not staff, a
patient or a caretaker was inside the hospital
when the bombing happened," Medecins Sans
Frontieres said in a statement on Sunday. "In
any case, bombing a fully functioning hospital can never be justified."
STAFF PULLED OUT
Witnesses said patients were burned alive in
the crowded hospital after the air strike.
Among the dead were three children being treated.
MSF said on Sunday it had pulled most of its
staff out of the area because the hospital that
was a lifeline for thousands in the city was no
longer functioning.
Some staff had gone to help treat the wounded at other hospitals outside of Kunduz.
Earlier this year, an Afghan special forces raid
in search of a suspected al Qaeda operative
prompted the hospital to temporarily close to
new patients after the soldiers were accused of behaving violently towards staff.
The struggle to retake Kunduz has raised
questions over whether NATO-trained Afghan
forces were ready to go it alone now most
foreign combat troops have left.
Afghan security forces were conducting house-
to-house searches on Sunday, as gunbattles
persisted in parts of the city, said Hamdullah
Danishi, acting governor of Kunduz province.
He said 480 Taliban fighters and 35 soldiers
had been killed.
The army raised the national flag in the central square, an area of the city that has changed hands several times in the fighting during the last week.
"Our security forces took control of strategic
areas in Kunduz," Danishi said. "We have a
clearance operation ongoing."
Afghan military helicopters on Sunday dropped
6,000 leaflets urging people to cooperate with
the army, the defense ministry said. "If you see abandoned military vehicles or equipment anywhere turn them over to security forces," the leaflets read.
Corpses lay in the streets and people were too afraid to leave their homes, said one resident, Gulboddin.
"You can hear the sound of gunfire all over the
city," said Gulboddin, who has only one name.
"Some of the bodies are decomposing."
(Editing by Ros Russell)
By Mirwais Harooni and Andrew MacAskill
KABUL (Reuters) -
Medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres denied that Taliban fighters were firing from its hospital at Afghan and NATO forces before a suspected U.S. air strike killed at least 19 people in a battle to oust the Islamist insurgents from an Afghan city.
Fighting raged around the northern provincial
capital of Kunduz for a seventh day as
government forces backed by American air
power seek to drive out Taliban militants who
seized the city almost a week ago.
Decomposing bodies littered the streets and
residents said that food was scarce.
MSF has said an air strike, probably carried out by U.S.-led coalition forces, killed 19 staff and patients on Saturday in a hospital it runs in Kunduz, leaving 37 wounded.
The U.S. military said it conducted an air strike
"in the vicinity" of the hospital, as it targeted
Taliban insurgents who were directly firing on
U.S. military personnel.
The U.S.-led coalition force in Afghanistan said
it expected to complete a preliminary multi-
national investigation in days into whether an
air strike it conducted hit the hospital.
The bombing deals a blow to Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani's policy of forging closer ties with
the United States after his predecessor Hamid
Karzai fell out with his backers in Washington in part over the number of civilians killed by
bombs. But the Afghan leader will be torn between distancing himself from Washington and the need for American firepower to help his forces drive insurgents out of Kunduz after the Taliban's biggest victory in the nearly 14-year- old war.
President Barack Obama said the defense
department had ordered a full investigation and he offered condolences to the victims of what he called "the tragic incident".
The U.N. human rights chief said the hospital assault was "inexcusable" and could amount to a war crime.
In Kabul, the Afghan Ministry of Defence said
Taliban fighters had attacked the hospital and
were using the building "as a human shield". But the medical aid group denied this.
"The gates of the hospital compound were
closed all night so no one that is not staff, a
patient or a caretaker was inside the hospital
when the bombing happened," Medecins Sans
Frontieres said in a statement on Sunday. "In
any case, bombing a fully functioning hospital can never be justified."
STAFF PULLED OUT
Witnesses said patients were burned alive in
the crowded hospital after the air strike.
Among the dead were three children being treated.
MSF said on Sunday it had pulled most of its
staff out of the area because the hospital that
was a lifeline for thousands in the city was no
longer functioning.
Some staff had gone to help treat the wounded at other hospitals outside of Kunduz.
Earlier this year, an Afghan special forces raid
in search of a suspected al Qaeda operative
prompted the hospital to temporarily close to
new patients after the soldiers were accused of behaving violently towards staff.
The struggle to retake Kunduz has raised
questions over whether NATO-trained Afghan
forces were ready to go it alone now most
foreign combat troops have left.
Afghan security forces were conducting house-
to-house searches on Sunday, as gunbattles
persisted in parts of the city, said Hamdullah
Danishi, acting governor of Kunduz province.
He said 480 Taliban fighters and 35 soldiers
had been killed.
The army raised the national flag in the central square, an area of the city that has changed hands several times in the fighting during the last week.
"Our security forces took control of strategic
areas in Kunduz," Danishi said. "We have a
clearance operation ongoing."
Afghan military helicopters on Sunday dropped
6,000 leaflets urging people to cooperate with
the army, the defense ministry said. "If you see abandoned military vehicles or equipment anywhere turn them over to security forces," the leaflets read.
Corpses lay in the streets and people were too afraid to leave their homes, said one resident, Gulboddin.
"You can hear the sound of gunfire all over the
city," said Gulboddin, who has only one name.
"Some of the bodies are decomposing."
(Editing by Ros Russell)
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