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Punishing 16, Pentagon Says Mistakes Led to Hospital Attack in Afghanistan Pentagon Details Chain of Errors in Strike on Afghan Hospital
(about 7 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Mistakes by the crew flying an AC-130 gunship, compounded by equipment and procedural failures, led to the devastating attack on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan last year, the Defense Department announced Friday, and 16 American military personnel, including a general officer, have been punished for their roles in the strike. WASHINGTON — Dispatched to eliminate a compound swarming with Taliban fighters, the AC-130 gunship circled above the Afghan city, its crew struggling to figure out where exactly to direct the aircraft’s frightening array of weaponry. Missile fire had forced it off course, and now the gunship’s targeting systems were pointing it to an empty field, not an enemy base.
The punishments for the Oct. 3 attack, which killed 42 people, will be “administrative actions” only, and none of those being disciplined will face criminal charges because the attack was determined to be unintentional. The punishments include suspension and removal from command as well as letters of reprimand, which can seriously damage or end a career. About 1,000 feet to the southwest, however, the crew spotted a collection of buildings that roughly matched the description of the Taliban compound provided by American and Afghan forces on the ground. Nine men could be spotted walking between the buildings.
The new top officer of the military’s Central Command, Gen. Joseph L. Votel, made the announcement during a Pentagon news conference. He said the military had conducted “a thorough investigation,” which was “painstaking” in seeking an “accurate account” of what had occurred. The gunship’s navigator called an American Special Forces air controller on the ground seeking guidance. The response was immediate and unequivocal.
Its conclusion is that neither the crew members of the gunship who fired on the hospital in the northern city of Kunduz nor the Special Forces on the ground who were directing the strike “knew they were striking a medical facility” and that the attack on the hospital was a result of human errors compounded by “process and equipment failures,” he said. “Compound is currently under control of the TB, so those nine PAX are hostile,” the air controller said, using common military shorthand for “Taliban” and “people.”
“This was an extraordinarily intense combat situation,” General Votel told reporters. The troops on the ground, he added, “were doing a variety of actions at the same time: They were trying to support their Afghan partners, they were trying to execute resupply operations, and they were trying to protect themselves.” The air controller was wrong. His mistake was one link in a chain of human errors and equipment and procedural failures that led to the devastating attack on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan last year that killed 42 people, the Defense Department said Friday, in its first extensive account of what happened in the city of Kunduz, early on the morning of Oct. 3.
But General Votel was clear on one point: The hospital was a protected facility that was at no time being used by active Taliban fighters, though some wounded insurgents had been treated there. His statement directly contradicted the claim by many senior Afghan officials that the hospital was being used by Taliban fighters and was therefore a legitimate target. In a heavily redacted report, which runs more than 3,000 pages, military investigators described a mission that went wrong from start to finish. Even after Doctors Without Borders informed American commanders that a gunship was attacking a hospital, the airstrike was not immediately called off because, it appears, the Americans could not confirm themselves that the hospital was actually free of Taliban.
Still, the release of the investigation’s findings and the announcement of the disciplinary measures, some of which were first leaked by defense officials last month, were unlikely to satisfy Doctors Without Borders and other human rights groups, many of which have said the attack may have constituted a war crime and called for an independent criminal investigation. “Immediately calling for a cease-fire for a situation we have no SA” — situational awareness, that is — “could put the ground force at risk,” an American commander whose name and rank were redacted was quoted as saying in the report.
After the announcement, Médecins Sans Frontières, the French name of Doctors Without Borders, reiterated its calls for an independent investigation, saying in a statement “that it cannot be satisfied solely with a military investigation.” Sixteen American military personnel, including a general officer, have been punished for their roles in the strike, said Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the new top officer of the military’s Central Command, who presented the results of the investigation during a Pentagon news conference.
“Today’s briefing amounts to an admission of an uncontrolled military operation in a densely populated urban area, during which U.S. forces failed to follow the basic laws of war,” said Meinie Nicolai, the group’s president. “It is incomprehensible that, under the circumstances described by the U.S., the attack was not called off.” The punishments for the attack will be “administrative actions” only, and none of those being disciplined will face criminal charges because the attack was determined to be unintentional, General Votel said, and neither the gunship crew members nor the Special Forces on the ground who were directing the strike “knew they were striking a medical facility.” The punishments include suspension, removal from command and letters of reprimand, which can seriously damage or end a career.
John Sifton, the Asia policy director of Human Rights Watch, disputed General Votel’s assertion that the airstrike did not constitute a war crime because it was the unintentional result of mistakes and equipment failures, not an intentional attack. But General Votel was clear on one point: The hospital was a protected facility that was at no time being used by active Taliban fighters, though some wounded insurgents had been treated there. His statement directly contradicted the claim by many senior Afghan officials that Taliban fighters were in the hospital and therefore a legitimate target.
The failure to bring any criminal charges was, “simply put, inexplicable,” Mr. Sifton said. Still, the release of the investigation’s findings and the announcement of the disciplinary measures were unlikely to satisfy Doctors Without Borders and other human rights groups, which on Friday reiterated their calls for an independent criminal investigation. Some also directly disputed General Votel’s declaration that the airstrike did not constitute a war crime because it was the unintentional result of mistakes and equipment failures, not a deliberate attack.
“General Joseph Votel’s assertion that a war crime must be deliberate, or intentional, is flatly wrong.” Mr. Sifton added. He said that there are legal precedents for war crimes prosecutions based on acts that were committed with recklessness, and that recklessness or negligence do not necessarily absolve someone of criminal responsibility under the United States military code. The failure to bring any criminal charges was “simply put, inexplicable,” said John Sifton, the Asia policy director of Human Rights Watch.
The Afghan government said that it had seen the report and that it welcomed the decision to discipline American troops. But Dawa Khan Meenapal, a spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, declined to elaborate when asked if the Afghan government had reversed its conclusion that the hospital was being used by the Taliban fighters. There are legal precedents for war crimes prosecutions based on acts that were committed with recklessness, he added, and recklessness or negligence does not necessarily absolve someone of criminal responsibility under the United States military code.
The broad outlines of what took place in Kunduz, which days earlier had been overrun by Taliban fighters, were established in the weeks and months after the attack: An American AC-130 gunship, responding to a call for support from Afghan commandos who said they were under fire, mistook the hospital for the intended target — a building in the city being used as a base by the Taliban — and unleashed sustained and repeated barrages from its heavy guns on the medical facility, despite frantic calls from Doctors Without Borders to military commanders. The broad outlines of what took place on Oct. 3 in the northern city of Kunduz, which had been overrun by Taliban fighters, were established in the weeks and months after the attack: The gunship, responding to a call for support from Afghan commandos who said they were under fire, mistook the hospital for the intended target — a building in the city being used as a base by the Taliban — and unleashed sustained and repeated barrages from its heavy guns on the medical facility, despite frantic calls from Doctors Without Borders to military commanders.
Friday’s announcement and the release of the report by investigators, which runs more than 3,000 pages, provided the most detailed accounting of the American version of events to date. The report released on Friday provided new details of what General Votel called a “tragic incident,” in which American service members “failed to comply with the rules of engagement in the law of armed conflict.”
The chain of problems began before the AC-130 even left the ground, when an unrelated emergency call for air support forced the aircraft to take off 69 minutes ahead of schedule, the report said. There was no time to fully brief the crew, and a database that would have allowed them to properly identify the hospital as a protected building had not been uploaded to the aircraft’s computers. For the American Special Forces on the ground who called in the attack, the days leading up to the strike had proved extremely taxing. The fall of Kunduz to the Taliban on Sept. 28 was swift and surprising, and two Special Forces teams were hastily sent to reinforce one that was based at the city’s airfield.
Once the AC-130 was airborne, a satellite radio on board failed, cutting off the aircraft’s data link — and the ability to upload the database and other vital information, General Votel said. Two days later, the Americans, along with Afghan forces, fought their way into the city, establishing a forward position at the headquarters of the police for Kunduz Province. The Americans expected to spend 24 hours there; instead, they spent the next two days fighting off repeated Taliban assaults. They were running low on ammunition, batteries for their equipment and food. They had barely slept in days.
After the hulking gunship arrived in the skies above Kunduz, insurgents fired a missile at it, forcing it to retreat to a safe position miles from the intended target, the local headquarters of Afghanistan’s main spy agency, the National Directorate of Security, which had been taken over by the Taliban. That night, the Special Forces informed their superiors that Afghan troops were planning to assault the local headquarters of Afghanistan’s main spy agency, the National Directorate of Security, which the Taliban were using as a base. The spy agency compound was about 1,600 feet from the American troops, who could not directly see it from their position.
This was no simple evasive maneuver for the gunship. The AC-130 moves slowly, and it is designed to circle above its target in one- to two-mile loops so it can bring to bear a frightening array of weaponry mounted on one side of the aircraft, including a 105-millimeter howitzer. Hundreds of miles away at Bagram Airfield, a sprawling base north of Kabul, the AC-130 crew was preparing to spend the night in the skies above Kunduz, supporting the American and Afghan troops who were fighting to retake the city.
But an unrelated emergency call for air support forced the aircraft to take off 69 minutes ahead of schedule, the report said. There was no time to fully brief the crew members, and a database that would have allowed them to properly identify the hospital as a protected building had not been uploaded to the aircraft’s computers.
A satellite radio on board failed soon after the AC-130 climbed over the wide plain on which Bagram sits and headed across the Hindu Kush mountains toward Kunduz. The radio was the aircraft’s data link; without it, the crew could not upload the database or send and receive any other vital emails or information.
The next surprise came after the AC-130 took up position over Kunduz, when insurgents fired what General Votel said was a surface-to-air missile at the aircraft. The threat of more missiles forced the AC-130 to retreat to a safe position miles from the spy agency headquarters it would soon be called on to strike.
This was no simple evasive maneuver for the gunship. The AC-130 moves slowly, and it is designed to circle above its target in one- to two-mile loops so it can bring to bear the weaponry mounted on one side of the aircraft, including a 105-millimeter howitzer.
The targeting instruments aboard the gunship are typically calibrated to pinpoint targets at relatively short distances. The report said that the need to briefly move miles out to avoid ground fire resulted in the crew’s being unable to find the target after it returned to its original position and prepared to commence its attack.The targeting instruments aboard the gunship are typically calibrated to pinpoint targets at relatively short distances. The report said that the need to briefly move miles out to avoid ground fire resulted in the crew’s being unable to find the target after it returned to its original position and prepared to commence its attack.
When the crew entered the coordinates of the target provided by Afghan forces — which were correct — the gunship’s systems instead directed the aircraft to an empty field, the report said. The field was obviously not the target. The crew members’ only option was to rely on their own eyes.When the crew entered the coordinates of the target provided by Afghan forces — which were correct — the gunship’s systems instead directed the aircraft to an empty field, the report said. The field was obviously not the target. The crew members’ only option was to rely on their own eyes.
Working off a description of the building being used by the Taliban that was passed by Afghan forces through American Special Forces on the ground, the crew ended up training the gunship’s weapons on the Doctors Without Borders hospital, which was about 400 meters, or 1,300 feet, from the correct target. The description provided by the American Special Forces on the ground was vague. The compound had “an outer perimeter wall with multiple buildings inside of it,” the aircrew was told in a radio transmission. “Also, on the main gate, I don’t know if you will be able to pick this up, but it’s also an arch-shaped gate.”
At one point, a crew member, identified in the report as the TV sensor operator, actually spotted the correct target and said it fit the description that was relayed by Afghan forces. But after “several attempts” to clarify which building should be struck, the aircraft attacked the hospital. The description could have applied to many compounds in almost any Afghan city. It also matched the layout of the hospital, which was about 400 meters, or 1,300 feet, from the correct target, the report said.
The attack commenced at 2:08 a.m., and General Votel said that the gunship used all its weapons, including the howitzer, decimating the hospital. The aircrew appeared to be confused by the directions from the Americans on the ground in the minutes leading up to the attack. At one point, the crew was told it would need to hit a second target after the strike it was about to commence, and “we will also be doing the same thing of softening the target for partner forces,” that is, Afghans.
It took only 11 minutes for Doctors Without Borders to contact “several U.S. government representatives” and tell them the hospital was under attack, the report said. “So he wants us to shoot?” one crew member asked the others aboard the AC-130.
But, the report said, it was initially unclear who exactly was firing on the hospital. It was not until 2:38 a.m. that the Special Forces commander on the ground realized the AC-130 was attacking the hospital and called off the attack, the report said. The timeline conflicts with accounts by witnesses, who said the attack lasted more than an hour. “Yeah, I’m not positive what softening means,” the navigator replied.
Investigators concluded that steps taken by several American service members during the attack were “inadequate,” and they identified 16 people whose conduct warranted disciplinary action. Twelve were punished by Gen. John F. Campbell, the commander of the American-led coalition at the time of the attack, and four others were disciplined by General Votel, who at the time was the commander of United States Special Operations command. “Ask him,” the pilot added.
General Votel said on Friday that the 16 service members were not being identified for privacy reasons and because some were still serving in sensitive deployments overseas. The crew did, and was told the “intent is to destroy targets of all opportunity.”
At one point, a crew member, identified in the report as the TV sensor operator, spotted the correct target and said it fit the description that was relayed by Afghan forces. But after “several attempts” to clarify which building should be struck, the aircraft was directed to the hospital.
Still, the crew members appeared to have doubts. They were even unclear on what exactly was meant by targets of opportunity. “I feel like let’s get on the same page for what target of opportunity means,” the navigator told his fellow crew members.
“When I’m hearing targets of opportunity like that,” another crew member said, “I’m thinking you’re going out, you find bad things and you shoot them.”
The conversations among the crew, and the clarifications with the Special Forces on the ground, continued until just after 2 a.m., when the AC-130 was given clearance to fire.
At 2:08 a.m., the attack commenced, and the navigator radioed, “Rounds away, rounds away, rounds away.”
The first round hit the courtyard north of the main building in the hospital compound — the area where men were spotted walking. The second round tore through the roof of the hospital building. By the time the attack was over, the AC-130 had fired 209 more rounds of ammunition from all of its guns, including the howitzer.
It took Doctors Without Borders only about 11 to 12 minutes to reach American officials and raise the alarm about what was unfolding. It continued to make calls and send text messages to American commanders in Afghanistan, the Pentagon in Washington and the Afghan Interior Ministry, throughout the bombardment, imploring them to stop the attack.
Confusion appears to have quickly set in among American commanders in Kabul and troops on the ground in Kunduz. At 2:52 a.m., more than 40 minutes after the AC-130 fired its first shot, Doctors Without Borders in Kabul received a text message reply from someone at the headquarters of the American-led coalition in Kabul that said, “I’m sorry to hear that, I still do not know what happened.”
The report said the American Special Forces commander called off the attack at 2:38 a.m. But a timeline of the calls made by Doctors Without Borders that was also included with the report recorded one at 2:56 from the group demanding the attack be stopped.
At 3:13 a.m., Doctors Without Borders sent a message saying the attack had stopped. Five minutes later, officials at the group’s New York office sent a message to a Pentagon official. The message said the group had confirmed that one of its staff members was dead and “many were unaccounted for.”