US says Afghans requested airstrike that struck Kunduz hospital

A deadly U.S. airstrike that killed 22 people at a hospital in Afghanistan came at the request of local forces who said they were under attack from Taliban fighters, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Monday.

The U.S. military previously reported that its own troops were being fired on in the embattled city of Kunduz, resulting in the raid carried out by an AC-130 gunship.

"We have now learned that on Oct. 3, Afghan forces advised that they were taking fire from enemy positions and asked for air support from U.S. air forces," Gen. John Campbell, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told reporters Monday.

But the revelation is unlikely to mitigate international anger over the U.S. attack. The United Nations decried the incident as “inexcusable,” with the body’s human rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, suggesting that the raid may amount to “a war crime.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Monday called the airstrike a “profound tragedy” and said that the incident is being investigated by the Defense Department’s Brig. Gen Joseph Kim, NATO and a joint task force of U.S. and Afghan security personnel. 

International medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Sunday that it has withdrawn its staff from Kunduz and called for an independent investigation into the attack.

"Today the U.S. government has admitted that it was their airstrike that hit our hospital in Kunduz and killed 22 patients and MSF staff,” the organization said Monday in a statement. “Their description of the attack keeps changing — from collateral damage to a tragic incident to now attempting to pass responsibility to the Afghanistan government. The reality is the U.S. dropped those bombs.”

The Pentagon has vowed to carry out a full probe into the events surrounding the strike. But pre-empting any findings, U.S. military officials have suggested that U.S. backup was requested by Afghans on the ground.

"An airstrike was then called to eliminate the Taliban threat, and several civilians were accidentally struck," Campbell said.

MSF said 12 staffers and 10 patients were killed in the attack. Some victims burned to death in their beds as the bombardments continued for an hour, even after U.S. and Afghan authorities were informed that the hospital was hit, MSF said.

The charity said that despite frantic calls to military officials in Kabul and Washington, the main building housing the intensive care unit and emergency rooms was "repeatedly, very precisely" hit almost every 15 minutes for more than an hour.

Campbell on Monday declined to comment on the rules under which the U.S. forces were operating. But he pledged to “hold those responsible accountable and take steps to ensure mistakes are not repeated.”

Kunduz has been under siege for more than a week after being overrun by Taliban fighters. Days of heavy fighting have seemingly seen the government regain control much of the city, with shops in the city center open Monday for the first time in eight days. But the civilian toll is feared to be heavy, with residents having to live without food, water or electricity for much of the past week.

Local residents are busy burying the dead, while other corpses remain on the street. And although the government has seemingly gaining the upper hand, pockets of Taliban fighters remain in hiding in residential parts of the city.

On Monday, local authorities were carrying house-to-house searches for remaining insurgents.

Al Jazeera and wire services