Aircraft
Report: Multiple Failures Led To Afghan Hospital Attack
The U.S. military is taking disciplinary action after the AC-130 gunship attack on the MSF hospital that killed 30.
An AC-130 gunship of U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, similar to the one that mistakenly attacked a hospital in Afghanistan on October 3. (Photo: Chris Pocock)
An AC-130 gunship of U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, similar to the one that mistakenly attacked a hospital in Afghanistan on October 3. (Photo: Chris Pocock)

The U.S. attack on the hospital run by the NGO Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Kunduz, Afghanistan, during the night of October 2-3 was a “tragic but avoidable accident…the direct result of human error, compounded by systems and procedural failures,” according to Gen. John Campbell, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In a media briefing last week, Campbell said that an unspecified number of individuals had been suspended from duty and are facing disciplinary action. The attack, conducted by an Air Force AC-130 gunship, killed 30 staff and patients and injured 37.