by Our Foreign Desk

DOCTORS Without Borders (MSF) withdrew from the Afghan city of Kunduz yesterday after a US air strike destroyed its hospital there and killed 19 people.

The medical charity’s president Meinie Nicolai condemned “a grave violation of international law” which had killed 12 members of staff and seven patients.

Nurse Lajos Zoltan Jecs described the aftermath of an “absolutely terrifying” raid: “There are no words for how terrible it was. In the intensive care unit six patients were burning in their beds.

“We looked for some staff who were supposed to be in the operating theatre. It was awful. A patient there on the operating table, dead. We couldn’t find our staff. We had to organise a mass casualty plan in the office, seeing which doctors were alive and available to help.”

Scores more were reported injured in the raid, which took place on Saturday and was allegedly conducted against vaguely identified “individuals threatening the force” according to US military spokesman Colonel Brian Tribus.

The bombing “may have resulted in collateral damage to a nearby medical facility,” the colonel added.

The admission prompted President Barack Obama to promise “a full investigation” by the Pentagon and offer his “deepest condolences” — but Ms Nicolai has demanded an independent investigation.

Her call has been backed by UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon. A UN statement said the attacks were “inexcusable and possibly even criminal.”

And the Afghan Interior Ministry seemingly contradicted Col Tribus’s statement, claiming that Taliban fighters had been hiding within the hospital — implying that it was deliberately targeted.

The Taliban denied having any of its troops in the building, although the city has seen fierce fighting between it and Afghan government forces since last Monday.

The bombing removes the main medical centre at a time when conflict is still raging in many parts of Kunduz.

“I’m afraid if this situation continues, we will not be able to help patients because right now we are facing a serious, drastic shortage of medicine,” public health director Saad Mukhar said.