Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Sunday demanded an independent international inquiry into a suspected U.S. airstrike that killed 22 people in an Afghan hospital it runs, branding the attack a "war crime." MSF said a U.S. military probe into the incident, which occurred during a push by Afghan security forces to retake the key northern city of Kunduz from Taliban insurgents, was not enough. "Relying only on an internal investigation by a party to the conflict would be wholly insufficient," MSF General Director Christopher Stokes said in a statement. "Under the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed, MSF demands that a full and transparent investigation into the event be conducted by an independent international body," Stokes said. Battles were still raging Sunday around Kunduz, a city of 300,000, as government forces backed by U.S. air power sought to drive out the Taliban militants who seized the city almost a week ago in one of their biggest victories in the 14-year war. Decomposing bodies littered the streets and trapped residents said that food was running scarce. Any confirmation of U.S. responsibility for the hospital deaths would deal a blow to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's policy of forging closer ties with the United States. His predecessor Hamid Karzai fell out with his backers in Washington in part over the number of civilians killed by U.S. strikes. But the Afghan leader will be torn between distancing himself from Washington and the need for American firepower to help his forces drive insurgents out of Kunduz. The U.S. military said it conducted an airstrike "in the vicinity" of the MSF hospital as it targeted Taliban insurgents who were directly firing on U.S. military personnel. It has not acknowledged hitting the hospital. President Barack Obama offered condolences to the victims of what he called "the tragic incident." The U.N. human rights chief said the hospital assault was "inexcusable" and also said it could amount to a war crime. The U.S.-led coalition force in Afghanistan said it expected to complete its preliminary multinational investigation within days. In Kabul, the Defense Ministry said Taliban fighters had attacked the hospital and were using the building "as a human shield." But MSF denied this. "Not a single member of our staff reported any fighting inside the MSF hospital compound prior to the U.S. airstrike Saturday morning," Stokes said. In the airstrike, witnesses said patients were burned alive in the crowded hospital. Among the dead were three children being treated. MSF said Sunday it had pulled most of its staff out of the area because the hospital that was a lifeline for thousands in the city was no longer functioning. Some staff had gone to help treat the wounded at other hospitals outside of Kunduz. Earlier this year, an Afghan special forces raid in search of a suspected Al-Qaeda operative prompted the hospital to temporarily close to new patients after the soldiers were accused of behaving violently toward staff. The struggle to retake Kunduz has raised questions over whether NATO-trained Afghan forces are ready to go it alone now that most foreign combat troops have left. Afghan security forces conducted house-to-house searches in Kunduz Sunday as gunbattles persisted in parts of the city, said Hamdullah Danishi, acting governor of Kunduz province. He said 480 Taliban fighters and 35 soldiers had been killed. The army raised the national flag in the central square, an area of the city that has changed hands several times in the fighting during last week. "Our security forces took control of strategic areas in Kunduz," Danishi said. "We have a clearance operation ongoing." Afghan military helicopters dropped 6,000 leaflets Sunday urging people to cooperate with the army, the Defense Ministry said. "If you see abandoned military vehicles or equipment anywhere turn them over to security forces," the leaflets read. Corpses lay in the streets unburied and people were too afraid to leave their homes, said one resident, Gulboddin. "You can hear the sound of gunfire all over the city," said Gulboddin, who has only one name. "Some of the bodies are decomposing."
