아프가니스탄 쿤두즈에서 미군의 공습을 당한 '국경없는 의사회'(MSF) 소속 병원의 사망자 수가 19명으로 증가했다고 MSF가 3일(현지시간) 밝혔다.
MSF 측은 이날 미군의 폭격으로 MSF 관계자를 비롯해 최소한 19명이 숨졌다면서 이와는 별도로 37명이 부상했다고 전했다.
사망자는 애초의 9명에서 10명이 더 늘어난 것으로, 중상자가 많아 사망자는 더 늘어날 가능성이 있는 것으로 알려졌다.
이에 앞서 MSF는 성명을 통해 폭격이 30분 이상 계속됐다며 "아프간과 미국 등 교전과 관계된 모든 단체에 MSF 시설의 정확한 위치를 알렸음에도 폭격이 이어졌다" 고 주장했다.
건물도 크게 파손된 상태로, MSF는 트위터 계정을 통해 불길에 휩싸인 병원의 모습을 공개하기도 했다.
폭격 당시 병원에는 환자 105명과 보호자, 의사와 간호사 등 MSF 직원 80명 이 상이 머물고 있었다고 MSF는 설명했다.
MSF 트라우마 센터는 쿤두즈 지역에서 심한 부상자를 치료할 수 있는 유일한 병 원으로, 최근 탈레반과 정부군의 교전으로 병원의 수용능력을 초과해 환자를 돌보고 있었다.
한편, 자이드 라아드 알 후세인 유엔 인권 최고대표는 이날 발표한 성명에서 많 은 사상자를 낸 미군의 MSF 병원 공습에 대해 완전하고 투명한 조사가 신속하게 이 뤄져야 한다고 촉구했다.
그는 특히 "이번 사건은 끔찍한 비극으로 용납할 수 없는 일"이라면서 "심지어 만약 군사법정에서 고의성이 인정될 경우에는 전쟁범죄에도 해당할 수 있는 일"이라 고 비판했다. (연합)
<관련 영문 기사>
UN slams ‘inexcusable’ Afghan hospital air strike that killed 19
A suspected US air strike on a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz killed 19 people Saturday, medical charity MSF said, a bombardment the UN condemned as “inexcusable, and possibly even criminal”.
The US has promised a “full investigation” into the bombing at the facility, a key lifeline that has been running beyond capacity during fighting that saw the Taliban seize control of the northern provincial capital for several days.
The attack early Saturday left the building engulfed in flames, and dozens more people seriously wounded, with photos posted by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) showing their staff shocked and dazed.
“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,” the organisation, known by its French initials, said.
“Twelve staff members and at least seven patients, including three children, were killed; 37 people were injured. This attack constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law.”
The charity said the bombing continued for more than 30 minutes after American and Afghan military officials were first alerted they were being hit.
“All parties to the conflict, including in Kabul and Washington, were clearly informed of the precise location (GPS coordinates) of the MSF facilities,” the statement added.
MSF said the aerial raid hit the main hospital building housing the intensive care unit and emergency rooms, while the surrounding buildings were left untouched.
NATO conceded US forces may have been behind the strike on MSF, which has long treated the war-wounded from all sides of the conflict.
“The strike may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility. This incident is under investigation,” a NATO statement said.
The incident has renewed concerns about the use of US air strikes in Afghanistan, a deeply contentious issue in the 14-year campaign against Taliban insurgents.
UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called for a full and transparent probe, noting that, “if established as deliberate in a court of law, an air strike on a hospital may amount to a war crime.”
“This event is utterly tragic, inexcusable and possibly even criminal,” he said.
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that “US forces in support of Afghan Security Forces were operating nearby, as were Taliban fighters”.
The Pentagon gave no further details, but one US official said the investigation will focus on the role played by a US AC-130 gunship.
The bombing came after Taliban insurgents overran the northern Afghan city on Monday. It was the first major city to be captured by militants since 2001.
The Afghan defence ministry expressed sadness but in a statement said “a group of armed terrorists... were using the hospital building as a position to target Afghan forces and civilians”.
MSF said some 105 patients and their caregivers, as well as more than 80 international and local MSF staff, were in the hospital at the time of the bombing.
“The bombs hit and then we heard the plane circle round,” said Heman Nagarathnam, MSF’s head of programmes in northern Afghanistan.
“There was a pause, and then more bombs hit. This happened again and again. 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.”
The soot-blackened building was filled with the smell of burning flesh and some bodies were charred beyond recognition, said Qiamudeen, a 31-year-old shopkeeper whose neighbour was killed in the strike.
“I was shocked, emotional and in tears when I reached the hospital,”
Qiamudeen, who goes by one name, told AFP.
Many Kunduz residents were too afraid to leave their homes to check on wounded relatives because of sporadic firefights between troops and Taliban snipers lurking in the city.
The Afghan government insists the city is firmly in their control.
The MSF trauma centre in Kunduz is the only medical facility in the whole northeastern region of Afghanistan that can deal with major injuries.
“We cannot accept that this horrific loss of life will simply be dismissed as ‘collateral damage’,” said MSF’s president Meinie Nicolai.
“We demand total transparency from coalition forces.”
Kunduz is facing a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire between government forces and insurgents. At least 60 people are known to have died and 400 wounded in recent fighting.
The Taliban’s offensive in Kunduz, their biggest tactical success since 2001, marks a major blow for Afghanistan’s Western-trained forces.
In a statement, the Taliban accused “barbaric American forces” of deliberately carrying out Saturday’s strike.
US-led NATO forces ended their combat mission in Afghanistan last December, though a 13,000-strong force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations. (AFP)
