U.S. strike on Afghan hospital likely not a mistake, says Doctors Without Borders

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders said on Thursday it was hard to believe a U.S. airstrike on an Afghan hospital last month was a mistake, as it hadreports of fleeing people being shot from an aircraft.

At least 30 people were killed when the hospital in Kunduzwas hit by the strike on Oct. 3 while Afghan government forceswere battling to regain control of the northern city fromTaliban forces who had seized it days earlier.

The United States has said the hospital was hit by accidentand two separate investigations by the U.S. and NATO areunderway but the circumstances of the incident, one of the worstof its kind during the 14-year conflict, are still unclear.

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Doctors Without Borders general director Christopher Stokes told reporters theorganization was still awaiting an explanation from the U.S.military.

"All the information that we've provided so far shows that amistake is quite hard to understand and believe at this stage,"he said while presenting an internal report on the incident.

The report said many staff described "seeing people being shot, most likely from the plane" as they tried to flee the mainhospital building.

"From what we are seeing now, this action is illegal in thelaws of war," Stokes said. "There are still many unanswered
questions, including who took the final decision, who gave thetargeting instructions for the hospital."

Several Afghan officials have suggested Taliban fighterswere using the hospital as a base, a claim that Doctors Without Bordersfirmlyrejects. It says the facility was under its control at all timesand there were no armed fighters present either before or duringthe attack.

The hospital was treating wounded combatants from both sidesas well as civilians, but the group says it always maintained a strict policy of neutrality between the two sides.

"Treating wounded combatants is not a crime," Stokes said.

Doctors Without Borderssays the site's location had been clearly communicatedto both Afghan forces and the Taliban and it was clearly
identifiable as a hospital.

"That night, it was one of the few buildings with electricalpower, it was fully lit up," Stokes said.

He also said that inspections of the area around thehospital since the Taliban withdrew from Kunduz last month did
not reveal signs of heavy fighting.

Doctors Without Borders, alsoknown by its French name,Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF), has revisedthe original casualty figure upwards and now says 30 people,including 13 staff members and three children were killed duringrepeated attacks by a powerful U.S. gunship.

The U.S. investigation is headed by a U.S. general and twobrigadier generals.

A separate NATO casualty report into the incident,originally expected in October, has been delayed while the
investigation continues, U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carterannounced last month.