Appearing before a Senate committee, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan said Tuesday that a hospital had been struck by mistake and he offered assurances that “extraordinary efforts” were being made to protect civilians.
“We would never potentially target a protected medical facility,” Gen. John Campbell told the Senate Armed Services committee.
Campbell said that it was a “U.S. decision” to provide air fire following a request for support from Afghan forces.
“This was a U.S. decision made within the U.S. chain of command,” he said, adding that “extraordinary efforts” were being undertaken to protect civilian loss of life.
He said an investigation into the bombing, which killed doctors and patients, was underway, and added that he had ordered new training to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Saturday’s bombardment of the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz sparked international outrage. It killed 12 medical staff members and at least 10 patients, three of them children, Doctors Without Borders said. Another 37 people were wounded, according to the global charity group, which works in conflict zones to help victims of war and other tragedies.
Every person who died at the hospital was Afghan, the group said.