US admits it may have caused Kunduz hospital deaths

WASHINGTON, Oct 5 (KUNA) -- US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has acknowledged that his forces may have caused death of 22 people at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, when the building came under air bombardment for some 30 minutes.
During a news conference, late on Sunday, as he was en route to Spain, Carter told reporters the US would take care of the medical needs of the patients that were in that facility as well as affected civilians in Kunduz. "I want to be careful about what I say, because I don't want to get out in front of the investigation, I think our current understanding, is that yes, there was American air action in that area, and that American forces there were engaged in the general vicinity," he said. "There will be accountability as always with these incidents, if that is required. The situation there is confused and complicated, so it may take some time to get the facts, but we will get the facts, and we will be full and transparent about sharing them with the American people, but also with the people of Afghanistan, and for that matter, the entire world, to include the essential non-profit factor, the non-governmental organization community, which is so critical," he added. Carter noted that despite the incident in question, the US is "not leading combat operations" in Afghanistan.
"This kind of operation in which the United States is supporting Afghan forces is not unusual," he said, adding that back in March, President Barack Obama had decided on keeping 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan. "My understanding is that neither US forces nor Afghan forces are present at the site at the moment," he said. (end) ys.rk