The attack on a hospital in Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan, by an American AC-130 gunship in the early hours of October 3rd was not a case of a bomb gone astray. The hospital, which may have been treating Taliban wounded in an ongoing battle for the city, was hit at 15-minute intervals for over an hour. At least 22 people were killed, including 12 medical staff working for Medecins Sans Frontieres (msf), a Nobel-prize-winning ngo. At first a military spokesman acknowledged that there might have been "collateral damage" to the hospital. Barack Obama later called the head of msf to apologise; the organisation says the attack was a war crime and is calling for an independent investigation.
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