Afghan SF attacked MSF to arrest a member of Al-Qaeda

Afghan Special Forces (SF) attacked Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kundoz in search of a suspected Al Qaeda operative being treated there, a commander of the elite force said on Thursday.

One of the top commanders of Afghan Special Forces, Abdullah has said it is still unclear that the suspected has been arrested in the attack or not?

“I was told he was an al Qaeda member being treated at the MSF hospital,” Abdullah said.

General Dawlat Waziri, deputy spokesman of the defense ministry expressed ignorance over the attack on MSF hospital.

Attacks on hospitals rarely happen, because according to international law hospitals have immunity.

Meanwhile, (MSF) condemns the violent intrusion by armed members of Afghan Special Forces in the organization’s trauma centre in Kunduz. The incident is an unacceptable breach of International Humanitarian Law, which protects medical services from attacks.

MSF says the facility in Kunduz City was temporarily closed to new patients after armed members of the Afghan Special Forces entered and “behaved violently” toward staff on July 1.

“We are shocked by this incident,” says Dr Bart Janssens, MSF’s Director of Operations. “Since it opened in 2011, Kunduz Trauma Centre has been a place where all patients can receive free medical and surgical care safely. This serious event puts at risk the lives of thousands of people who rely on the centre for urgent care.”

MSF’s centre is the only facility of its kind in the whole north-eastern region of Afghanistan providing high level life- and limb-saving trauma care. In 2014, more than 22,000 patients received care at the hospital and more than 5900 surgeries were performed. MSF has been able to provide this care in such a volatile environment by ensuring its medical activities are recognised and respected by the community and all parties to the conflict.

Kunduz has become a key battleground, with Taliban militants overrunning two districts in the province and striking checkpoints close to the provincial capital over the past weeks.