Doctors Without Borders calls for independent investigation of Afghan hospital attack
Afghan MSF medical personnel treat civilians injured following an offensive against Taliban militants by Afghan and coalition forces at the MSF hospital in Kunduz (AFP Photo/Msf)

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) called on Wednesday for an independent international fact-finding commission to be established to investigate the U.S. bombing of its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, which it deems a war crime.


The medical charity said that the commission, which can be set up at the request of a single state under the Geneva Convention, would gather facts and evidence from the United States, NATO and Afghanistan. Only then would MSF decide whether to bring criminal charges for loss of life and damage, it said.

"If we let this go, we are basically giving a blank check to any countries at war," MSF International President Joanne Liu told a news briefing in Geneva. "There is no commitment to an independent investigation yet."

The U.S. military took responsibility on Tuesday for the air strike on a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz, that killed 22 people, calling it a mistake and vowing to bring the perpetrators to account.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Louise Ireland)