Médecins Sans Frontières Global (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, had a facility bombed on Oct. 3, resulting in the deaths of at least 30 people. As the medical facility, in the Afghan city of Kunduz, was under immense military attack, a flurry of calls and text messages flew out of the phones of people in the building for the hour the bombing took place, according to the Washington Post.
The bombing started at 2 a.m., with first bombs falling from a U.S. AC-130 gunship, the end of the ordeal marked by a final message, a text sent out at 2:59 a.m. This information was released in a log by Doctors Without Borders on Thursday in its report of the bombing by U.S. air strikes.
The final text came after pleas to stop the attack from the group were sent to a U.S. military official, who responded by saying, "I'll do my best. Praying for you all," in a text message. The official was in Kabul, about four hours south. The report also stated that the U.S. military pilots were shooting at staff members who were fleeing the hospital.
"Many staff describe seeing people being shot, most likely from the plane, as people tried to flee the main hospital building that was being hit with each airstrike," the report said, according to the Huffington Post.
The report addresses the question as to whether the hospital was used as a Taliban military base, the medical organization claims. At the time of the air strikes, the medical organization was treating Afghan civilians, Taliban fighters and other civilians.
The bombing took place while the Afghan and U.S. militaries were fighting to take back the city of Kunduz, which was under Taliban rule at the time, having been taken over a few days prior. At least 30 medical staff members and patients in the hospital the hospital were killed that night, many burned beyond recognition and still unidentifiable.
"The question remains as to whether our hospital lost protected status in the eyes of the military forces engaged in this attack - and if so, why," Joanne Liu, MSF's international president, said in a letter included with the report. "This answer does not lie within the MSF hospital. Those responsible for requesting, ordering and approving the airstrikes hold these answers."
"We continue to work closely with MSF in identifying the victims killed and wounded so we can conclude our investigations and proceed with follow-on actions, to include condolence payments," Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said. " We're also committed to working with MSF to determine the full extent of the damage on the hospital so that it can be repaired in full."
The international medical aid charity has since pulled out of its Afghanistan hospital operations in Kunduz following the U.S. air strike that decimated the hospital, as previously reported by HNGN.
