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U.S. commander in Afghanistan apologizes for bombing of hospital

 
Published March 23, 2016

KABUL, Afghanistan — The new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan issued an unreserved apology Tuesday to the victims of the United States' bombing of a hospital in the city of Kunduz last year that killed 42 people.

Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr. and his wife, Norine MacDonald, a security analyst, traveled to Kunduz to meet with local officials and families of victims of the attack on the Doctors Without Borders hospital in October.

The couple's trip was clearly geared toward adding a personal component to the apology. Its tone was a sharp contrast to that of Nicholson's predecessor, Gen. John F. Campbell, who sent confusing messages after the attack and stopped short of apologizing.

"As commander, I wanted to come to Kunduz personally and stand before the families and the people of Kunduz to deeply apologize for the events which destroyed the hospital and caused the deaths of staff, patients and family members," said Nicholson, who took charge of the forces this month. "I grieve with you for your loss and suffering, and humbly and respectfully ask for your forgiveness."

But families of victims expressed anger at local Afghan officials who accepted the general's apology on their behalf. The statement was unlikely to change the position of Doctors Without Borders, which has demanded an independent inquiry led by the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission and has called the airstrikes a war crime.

"They hit us six months ago and are apologizing now?" said Zabiullah Niazi, an operating room nurse at the hospital who lost an eye, a finger and the ability to use one hand. "The head of provincial council and other officials who said we accept the apology, they wouldn't have said it if they had lost their own son and eaten ashes, as we did."

After the Taliban briefly overran Kunduz city last fall, an American AC-130 gunship, operating on a request from Afghan forces, repeatedly bombed the Doctors Without Borders hospital. The aid group has said the attack, which killed 42 people and destroyed the hospital, continued for more than an hour despite repeated calls to the military, which had been provided with the hospital's coordinates on several occasions.

Afghan officials continue to claim that insurgents were taking shelter in the compound and firing on their forces, which Doctors Without Borders has denied.

U.S. officials recently said the Pentagon had disciplined at least a dozen people for their role in the attack. The Pentagon is expected to release its inquiry into the attack in coming weeks.