The death toll by air strikes at a hospital run by medical aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz city has risen to 22, the agency said in a statement on Sunday.
"Not a single member of our staff reported any fighting inside the MSF hospital compound prior to the U.S. air strike on Saturday morning. The hospital was full of MSF staff, patients and their caretakers. It is 12 MSF staff members and 10 patients, including three children, who were killed in the attack," the statement said.
The air raid struck the hospital in Kunduz city, capital of northern Kunduz province, at early hours of Saturday. U.S. forces in Afghanistan which support Afghan forces in the war on Taliban militants and terrorists, said that an investigation has been initiated into the case.
"Under the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed, MSF demands that a full and transparent investigation into the event be conducted by an independent international body. Relying only on an internal investigation by a party to the conflict would be wholly insufficient," the statement said.
Following the air strikes, the aid agency has stopped functioning and evacuated all its international staff.
"All international staff have been evacuated following the attack. The MSF hospital is not functional anymore," communication manager of the aid agency, Bao Zhuwei, told Xinhua earlier.
She added that all the patients in critical condition have been referred to other health facilities.
"Some of our medical staff have gone to work in two hospitals where some of the wounded persons have been taken," she said.
"It is important to keep in mind that according to humanitarian law, any injured person in the hospital is considered as non- combatant. In any case, bombing a fully functioning hospital can never be justified," she added.
In a surprise attack, Taliban militants captured major parts of Kunduz city last Monday. Government forces have launched a counter- offensive and so far, according to Kunduz police, hundreds of Taliban militants have been killed.
