‘Condolence Payments’ offered by US to Afghan airstrike victims
The U.S. government will be handing out “condolence payments” to the families of those killed and injured in the Afghan airstrike in Kunduz last week that destroyed the Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French name Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), headquarters in Kunduz.
The already existing Commanders’ Emergency Response Program in Afghanistan will handle the transaction of the compensation. Additional authority from the Congress, should it be necessary, will be given, according to Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. Issuing condolence payments is the U.S.’ way of addressing the consequences of its actions, said Cook. Pentagon also said it will also pay and repair the hospital.
Los Angeles Times reports that the U.S. has regularly issued payments to Afghanistan for destruction of property, injuries and deaths throughout the duration of the former country’s military presence in the latter.
The airstrike on Oct. 3 destroyed a hospital ran by MSF, killing 22 people, all of which were Afghan staff members of the organisation.
On Tuesday, top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, called the airstrike a “mistake.” According to Campbell, the attack was requested by the Afghan air force but has mistakenly hit the hospital. U.S. President Barack Obama issued an apology for the incident on Wednesday. The U.S. government has changed its statement regarding the strike for four times before acknowledging it as a mistake.
Separate investigations from NATO and both the U.S. and Afghan governments are being conducted.
The hospital ran by MSF in Kunduz is the only health facility of its kind in the city and its neighbouring districts. The organisation left Kunduz on Oct. 4, after the strike in which it described as a “war crime”.
A letter was sent by MSF on Tuesday to 76 countries that signed the additional protocol to the Geneva Conventions, asking to mobilise the 15-member commission, the Wall Street Journal reports. The letter is a request for the Swiss-based International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission to mobilise an independent investigation regarding the issue. For IHFFC to act, a single country would have to call for the fact-finding mission, even non-signatories U.S. and Afghanistan must also give their consent.
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