MSF calls for independent commission on Kunduz hospital attack

The US military took responsibility on Tuesday for the air strike on the hospital in Kunduz

GENEVA: Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) called on Wednesday for an independent international fact-finding commission to be established to investigate the US bombing of its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, which it deems a war crime.

The medical charity said that the commission, which can be set up at the request of a single state under the Geneva Convention, would gather facts and evidence from the United States, Nato and Afghanistan. Only then would MSF decide whether to bring criminal charges for loss of life and damage, it said.

"If we let this go, we are basically giving a blank check to any countries at war," MSF International President Joanne Liu told a news briefing in Geneva. "There is no commitment to an independent investigation yet."

The US military took responsibility on Tuesday for the air strike on a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz, that killed 22 people, calling it a mistake and vowing to bring the perpetrators to account.