The Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, was bombed overnight. A blunder of the American army is evoked.
Several MSF members died last night in Afghanistan after an American bombardment. The strikes targeted “people who threatened coalition forces,” NATO spokesman Colonel Brian Tribus said. “It may have caused collateral damage to a medical building located not far from there,” he added, adding that an investigation was underway. According to MSF, the health center was “hit several times and was badly damaged” by the shelling.
Nine deaths have already been confirmed, but the toll of this attack could increase in the coming hours. More than 30 members of staff are missing, out of the 200 people present in the treatment center last night, including 105 patients.
“We do not yet know the exact number of victims, our medical team provides first aid, treats injured patients and MSF staff, and counts the dead. We urge all parties to the conflict to respect the safety of health facilities and medical personnel, ”says Bart Janssens, MSF director of operations.
On Twitter, MSF this morning posted its dismay at the extent of the damage:
Our staff in shock in one of the remaining parts of MSF’s hospital in #Kunduz #Afghanistan. http://t.co/Zf6bQI7Riy pic.twitter.com/dc16E0x9Tl
– MSF International (@MSF) October 3, 2015
“#MSF staff in shock in one of the remaining parts of #Kunduz hospital. They work to treat the wounded ”
An already submerged hospital
This tragic accident comes at the worst time for the teams of the NGO, which announced earlier this week that they were overwhelmed with wounded “after violent fighting between government forces and the opposition broke out in the town of Kunduz”, taken by the Taliban at the end of September. “The hospital has practically reached its full capacity and with the continuing fighting, we were worried that we would not be able to cope with the new influxes of wounded,” said Guilhem Molinie, MSF representative in Afghanistan.
“MSF has treated 394 wounded since Monday,” said Bart Janssens, director of operations for the NGO. “We are deeply shocked by this attack,” he added. Kunduz hospital is one of the most important structures of MSF in Afghanistan, since it is equipped with the only trauma center in the north-eastern region of the country.
Despite the trauma of this bombardment, MSF doctors continue to provide care. This morning they returned to the operating room, where the surgeries are taking place in difficult conditions, as shown by the photo posted by MSF on Twitter.
#Kunduz ongoing surgery in what’s left of the hospital #MSF #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/U9kohsSxsI
– MSF France (@MSF_france) October 3, 2015
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