US Rebuffs Calls for International Investigation

Doctors Without Borders said the US investigation into the attack on its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, presented “more questions than answers,” noting the decision to fire from the AC-130 was part of a “frightening catalogue of errors.” Doctors Without Borders General Director Christopher Stokes said in a Nov. 25 statement there needs to be an independent and impartial investigation into the attack. “The destruction of a protected facility without verifying the target—in this case a functioning hospital full of medical staff and patients—cannot only be dismissed as individual human error or breaches of the US rules of engagement,” Stokes said. Doctors Without Borders, in early November, released its own report on the attack, in which the group states it repeatedly passed along its GPS coordinates to US and Afghan officials. Staff at the hospital also made several calls and text messages to US officials in Afghanistan and in Washington, D.C., saying they were under attack. The total staff killed in the attack is at least 30, according to the group. Army Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, spokesman for Operation Resolute Support, told reporters Nov. 25 the US report was “complete” and dismissed questions about an independent investigation. (Watch the briefing.)