U.S. admits it may have killed aid workers in Afghanistan air strikes

The U.S. has admitted it may have killed a number of aid workers in an air raid in northern Afghanistan. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says at least three of its staff were killed when a hospital in the city of Kunduz was hit during the strike. It says up to 30 are still missing. Kunduz has been the scene of fierce battles since it was overrun by the Taliban last Monday. They have since been driven from the centre, where they briefly raised their flag, but still occupy other parts of the town.

We are deeply shocked by the attack, the killing of our staff and patients and the heavy toll it has inflicted on healthcare in Kunduz.

Medecins Sans Frontieres operations director, Bart Janssens

A NATO spokesman, Colonel Brian Tribus, said U.S. forces launched an air strike on Kunduz at 2.15 am on Saturday. "(It) may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility,“ he said. "This incident is under investigation." MSF said its trauma centre was hit several times during sustained bombing and was partially destroyed. Around 200 patients and employees were in the hospital, the only one in the region that can treat major injuries, at the time. Saad Mukhtar, director of public health in Kunduz, said a wall of the hospital’s main building collapsed, scattering fragments of glass and wooden door frames, and three rooms were on fire. The U.S. military has carried out a number of air strikes this week in support of government forces in Kunduz, the provincial capital and the fifth largest city in Afghanistan.

Thick, black smoke could be seen rising from some of the rooms. The fighting is still going on, so we had to leave.

Saad Mukhtar, director of public health in Kunduz

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