IRRC No. 907/908/909
An environment conducive to mistakes? Lessons learnt from the attack on the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan
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Abstract
On 3 October 2015, the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Trauma Centre in Kunduz,
Afghanistan was bombed during a US–Afghan joint military operation to retake the
city. Even before that night, attacks on health-care facilities in war zones were already
a worrying trend and a major concern for humanitarian organizations. Such attacks
have led both MSF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to
launch campaigns1 addressing the need for greater protection of the medical
mission in situations of armed conflict. Nonetheless, the scale and specific context
of the attack on the Kunduz Trauma Centre have given rise to various specific
investigations2 and provoked many more questions that this article will explore.
The article will delve into the “many mistakes” scenario that has been presented by
the US investigation in order to critically analyze whether these mistakes may
originate from either incorrect or biased interpretations or implementation of
international humanitarian law.