Swedish Aid Group Seeks Inquiry Into Afghan Hospital Raid

KABUL, Afghanistan — A Swedish aid group has demanded an independent investigation of a raid on a hospital in Afghanistan last week in which it said that three people, including a boy, were summarily executed by Afghan forces who were accompanied by NATO troops.

Jorgen Holmstrom, country director of the charity, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, on Wednesday called for the United States-led NATO military command and the Afghan government to provide “a detailed explanation of the incident.” The raid began late on Feb. 17 at a hospital funded by the Swedish committee in troubled Wardak Province, southwest of Kabul.

The raid, in which hospital staff members were “arrested and beaten,” Mr. Holmstrom said in a statement, was “a gross violation of humanitarian principles and the Geneva Convention, which states that all parties to a conflict must respect medical facilities.” 

“They were yelling at us that ‘You are serving the Taliban!’ ” Dr. Wahidullah said. “I replied that this is a hospital. We provide services and medical assistance to everyone, ordinary citizens and pro-Taliban or government members alike.”- Read More at the nytimes

Swedish Aid Group Seeks Inquiry Into Afghan Hospital Raid