Medics in a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan were left powerless as bombs rained down the hospital they worked in. Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) desperately rang NATO and Washington to try and stop the torrent of bombs.
A least 12 aid workers and seven patients, three of which were children, have been killed. 37 people have been seriously wounded. Many patients and staff are still missing, as about 200 people were in the building at the time.
The bombing began at 2.10am. Nine minutes later the staff rang NATO’s offices in Kabul and military officials in Washington. Despite this, the bombing continued until 3.13am.
The head of US-led forces in Afghanistan has apologised to President Ashraf Ghani over the bombing. He described the incident as “collateral damage”.
Meinie Nicolai, the MSF’s president said: “We cannot accept that this horrific loss of life will simply be dismissed as ‘collateral damage’.”
Afghan’s Interior Ministry said there were “10 to 15 terrorists” hiding in the building, which is why the hospital was targeted.