News - Afghanistan

President Ashraf Ghani left Kabul early Thursday morning for Kunduz where he will review the security situation in the province.

During his trip, Ghani will review security improvements, developments, and the situation of displaced people following the fall of the city to the Taliban in late September. He is also expected to meet with local officials.
Afghanistan's First Lady Rula Ghani is also accompanying the president on his one-day trip. She will focus particularly on issues faced by women in the province.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued by Ghani's office on Thursday, the president said the Afghan government has welcomed the release of the findings of the U.S investigation into the bombing of the Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Kunduz city on October 3.

The statement read: "The Government of Afghanistan is confident that this investigation, which is consistent with the findings of the separate NATO Combined Civilian Casualty Assessment Team's report on the incident, was conducted in a thorough manner and will reveal measures that can be taken to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future."

"Unlike terrorists and enemies of Afghanistan, who deliberately target the civilian population and willingly brutalize innocent men, women and children, we take great measures to avoid harm to civilians in the course of defending our nation," said Ghani.

"This U.S investigation did not ignore any facts or evidence, admits mistakes that were made, and will enable the authorities to learn from the mistakes and hold people accountable where appropriate."

The statement went on to note that the Government of Afghanistan supports U.S efforts to adopt any and all measures from the recommendations of the report, and will work with its partners to avoid such tragic incidents from happening again.

The Afghan government will also review its own procedures, include further training for the defense and security forces, to ensure the safety of protected sites as government continues its commitment to protect its citizens from the enemy forces, it stated.

"Such mistakes can and should be avoided," said Ghani. "But it is also a painful demonstration of the cost of war being brought upon us by terrorist groups and enemies of Afghanistan."

This comes after General John F. Campbell, Commander Resolute Support and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan on Wednesday night delivered their findings on the bombing of the hospital and stated the incident was the result of "human error".

Campbell acknowledged the hospital was on a no-strike list and that MSF had called during the attack to alert the U.S.-led forces. He described a series of mistakes that allowed the American forces to destroy the hospital, despite the call.