American special operations troops in Afghanistan knew the site of a bombing in Kunduz this month was a hospital, according to a published report.
A U.S. gunship struck a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz on Oct. 3, killing 22 patients and hospital staff, including three children, after Afghan forces called in close-air support to protect them from enemy fire.
Doctors Without Borders said the hospital building was repeatedly targeted, despite calls during the attack to U.S. officials asking it to stop. The group also said it had provided the coordinates of the medical facility to fighters on both sides of the conflict.
This led the group to call the strikes a war crime and call for an independent investigation outside of the Defense Department.
Thursday’s Associated Press report said that U.S. special operators were collecting intelligence on the hospital days before it was destroyed, including some files that showed maps with the location of the hospital circled.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Thursday that the Pentagon is undertaking a transparent investigation into what went wrong in the bombing.
Preliminary results of the investigation could be available by the beginning of next week, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters.
