A Doctors Without Borders hospital in northern Afghanistan has been bombed.
The medical charity says its hospital in Kunduz came under sustained bombing Saturday morning. Both the Afghan and U.S. governments were told of the hospital's location well before the bombing. (Video via Channel 4)
According to MSF, 37 people were seriously injured, 19 of which were staff members. Twelve MSF staffers and seven patients were killed. However, the organization's statement also said many patients and staffers are still unaccounted for.
While the organization itself hasn't confirmed, The Guardian says an MSF doctor who wished to remain anonymous put the death toll at 20.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter released a statement on the airstrike saying a full investigation is underway and that his thoughts and prayers were with everyone affected.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein called the event “utterly tragic, inexcusable and possibly even criminal.”
Kunduz has been contested by Taliban forces since they overran the provincial capital in late September.
The U.S. has been assisting Afghan security forces in retaking the city with airstrikes. The U.S. officially ended its war there at the end of 2014.
Hospitals run by Doctors Without Borders have often been targeted in conflict zones. (Video via Doctors WIthout Borders)
In the second week of August alone, MSF claims airstrikes from the Syrian regime hit or landed near nine hospitals, three of which were run by Doctors Without Borders. (Video via Doctors Without Borders)
The group also said hospitals it supported in Iraq were targeted in July last year. A clinic it ran in Tikrit was shelled a month earlier. (Video via Doctors Without Borders)
This video includes images fromDoctors Without Borders.
