A Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital was bombed in Kunduz, Afghanistan Oct. 3, killing BLANK people after Afghan forces called for Air Force help to repel
Taliban militants, but resulted in the accidental harming of many civilians.
MSF is a charity organization that strives to help people all over the w
orld stuck in unfortunate situations such as catastrophes, conflict, epidemics and inadequate healthcare. The Kunduz hospital is one of 28 hospitals MSF manages worldwide and has been aiding its citizens since 2011.
Shock and outrage has been apparent across the globe in response to the bombing. The hospital was hit by many aerial bomb raidings from 2:08 and 3:15 a.m. in 15 minute intervals. The bombing occurred even after MSF gave GPS coordinates of the hospital Tuesday, Sept. 29 to military officials to ensure the wellbeing of the patients in the hospital.
The raid also continued after the military officials had been told the hospital was under attack. 12 staff members and seven patients were killed and 37 others were wounded. The hospital urgently tried to save everyone and patients who were critically injured had to be transferred to a hospital two hours away.
“The people in the hospitals had nothing to do with the bombing, the US should apologize for the attack, it just wasn’t right,” said Josue Ponce, sophomore.
After the attack, President Barack Obama released a statement offering condolences to MSF. Obama also personally called MSF’s president, Dr. Joanne Liu, expressing his condolences to everyone harmed and apologized for the attack. Liu acknowledged his call, but is demanding for an independent panel to conduct an investigation, saying it needs to be established what happened, how the bombing occurred and why.
“The Department of Defense has launched a full investigation, and we will await the results of that inquiry before making a definitive judgment as to the circumstances of this tragedy,” said President Obama.
MSF has helped thousands of patients in the past because it is one of the only hospitals in this area, the closest being two hours away. In time it should be back to normal and helping patients.
“When I made it out from the office, the main hospital building was engulfed in flames. Those people that could had moved quickly to the building’s two bunkers to seek safety. But patients who were unable to escape burned to death as they lay in their beds,” said said Heman Nagarathnam, MSF head of programs in northern Afghanistan.