Aid workers killed in bombing of Afghan hospital

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 by Sunita Kureishi and Biodun Iginla, France24, Kabul

 

Latest update : 2015-10-03

An air strike Saturday left three Doctors Without Borders staff dead and dozens more unaccounted for in the embattled Afghan city of Kunduz, the medical charity said, with NATO saying US forces may be behind the attack.

The MSF facility is seen as a key medical lifeline in the region and has been running "beyond capacity" in recent days of fighting that saw the Taliban seize control of the provincial capital for several days.
"At 2:10 am (2040 GMT) local time... the MSF trauma centre in Kunduz was hit several times during sustained bombing and was very badly damaged," it said in a statement.
"Three MSF staff are confirmed dead and more than 30 are unaccounted for. The medical team is working around the clock to do everything possible for the safety of patients and hospital staff."

Kunduz has seen heavy fighting since Taliban insurgents stormed the provincial capital on Monday -- the first major city to be captured by insurgents since 2001.
At the time of the bombing, 105 patients and their caregivers and more than 80 international and local MSF staff were in the hospital, the charity said.
NATO said US forces may be behind the strike.
"US forces conducted an air strike in Kunduz city at 2:15 am (local time)... against individuals threatening the force," a NATO statement said.
"The strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility. This incident is under investigation."
The MSF trauma centre in Kunduz is the only medical facility in the region that can deal with major injuries.
As fighting spreads in neighbouring Badakhshan, Takhar and Baghlan provinces, concerns are mounting that the seizure of Kunduz was merely the opening gambit in a new, bolder Taliban strategy to tighten the insurgency's grip across northern Afghanistan.
Afghan forces, backed by NATO special forces and US air strikes, have been going from house to house in Kunduz in a bid to flush out insurgents in the city.
The Taliban's offensive in Kunduz, their biggest tactical success since 2001, marks a major blow for Afghanistan's Western-trained forces, who have largely been fighting on their own since last December.
Civilian and military casualties caused by NATO forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the 14-year campaign against Taliban insurgents, provoking harsh public and government criticism.
In a statement, the Taliban accused "barbaric American forces" of deliberately carrying out Saturday's strike, which "killed and wounded tens of doctors, nurses and patients".
US-led NATO forces ended their combat mission in Afghanistan last December, though a 13,000-strong residual force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.
But there has been an escalation in air strikes by NATO forces in recent months despite the drawdown.
 

Afghan Taliban attack: Fierce clashes for control of Kunduz

by Sunita Kureishi and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Kabul

43 minutes ago

Fierce fighting is continuing between Afghan forces and the Taliban in parts of Afghanistan's northern city of Kunduz, despite government claims that it had regained control of the city.

On Thursday afternoon Taliban fighters seized back the main square and raised their flag there once again.
However eyewitnesses say most of the city now appears to be under government control, despite resistance.
Kunduz was the first major centre to fall to the Taliban in 14 years.
Street battles took place all day on Thursday as government forces pushed back the insurgents who seized the city on Monday.
Many Taliban fighters have now retreated to the outskirts of Kunduz.
The Taliban has denied the city has been retaken.

The city's capture on Monday by the militant group was a huge blow to President Ashraf Ghani, coming on the first anniversary of his taking power.
Praising the work of Afghan forces on Thursday, the president said he hoped that they had "proved to the people of Afghanistan, to the region and to the world that they have the ability and resolve to fight".
A doctor at the hospital in Kunduz told the BBC that they were struggling to cope with the high number of injured people coming in.

A businessman living near Traffic Square in the city centre described the situation as "very, very tense" and said the fighting was still going on as darkness fell on Thursday evening.
Kunduz, with a population of around 300,000, is one of Afghanistan's largest cities and strategically important both as a transport hub and a bread-basket for the region.

• In pictures How Kunduz 'recapture' unfolded
• Residents' tales of fighting in Kunduz
• Crucial capture: Taliban's biggest victory since 2001
• Taliban selfies: the militants posing for pictures as they seized the city

The government assault - backed by Nato special forces and US air support - began overnight with fighters infiltrating the city and launching a series of simultaneous attacks from different positions.
Government officials said on Thursday morning that the military had taken back key offices and as many as 200 Taliban fighters had been killed in the operation. Some residents spoke of seeing dead bodies of Taliban fighters everywhere.
Interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said an operation to "clear the city" of the last pockets of resistance was ongoing and could take some days.

There were scenes of jubilation at dawn on Thursday as local residents emerged from their homes to thank government troops after three days of crippling food shortages.
But the mood changed during the morning as fighting broke out again.
Taliban fighters had scattered into groups of 10 and 12 and were firing at government troops "from inside people's houses and from the top of high-rise buildings," said Samad Ahmadi, a university lecturer, taking shelter on the outskirts of the city.
A doctor with Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) in Kunduz, Heman Nagarathnam, told the BBC that 296 people wounded in the fighting had been treated at the MSF trauma centre since Monday. Sixty-eight of those treated were children, he said.

The Taliban launched its assault on Kunduz from multiple directions on Monday night, helped by infiltrators who had entered the city during the recent Eid festival. The assault was swift and took Afghan forces by surprise.
The city's capture is a setback for a government under pressure to show it can keep the country secure without the backing of international forces.

Jawed Ludin, the former deputy foreign minister of Afghanistan, told the BBC's Today programme that Kunduz was known to be at risk from terror attacks and the government should have done "a better job" at protecting the city.
Afghanistan's chief executive officer Abdullah Abdullah admitted the government must address its "shortcomings" over Kunduz.
Militant violence has increased across Afghanistan since Nato ended its combat mission there in December 2014, leaving a residual force used for training and counter-terrorism operations. Most of that force is made up of US troops and there are fears Washington plans to pull most of them out in the coming year.