Medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Friday a US tank entered the grounds of its hospital in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz without permission, damaging the compound that was hit in a US airstrike earlier this month.
The group said in a statement that the vehicle was carrying a team from a joint investigation being conducted by the United States, NATO and Afghan government into why a US aircraft fired on the hospital, killing at least 22 staff and patients, Reuters reported.
“Their unannounced and forced entry damaged property, destroyed potential evidence and caused stress and fear for the MSF team,” the group said of the incident on Thursday.
It also said members of the investigation team had previously agreed to notify MSF before taking steps that involved the group’s personnel or assets.
A group of MSF staff members were in Kunduz this week to assess the damage to the hospital, which is no longer functioning.
At present, 22 staff members and patients are confirmed to have died in the attack and two additional staff members are presumed dead.
“What we need is the answer to the question that we are asking everybody ... Why this hospital was targeted. Up to now there is no answer to this question,” Guilhem Molinie, MSF’s country representative in Afghanistan, told Reuters this week.
