KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan military commandos raided and searched a Doctors Without Borders’ hospital in the north of the country, firing several shots in the air and threatening the staff, the humanitarian group said Friday.
In a statement, Doctors Without Borders condemned the “violent intrusion,” which occurred on Wednesday, as a breach of the Geneva Conventions.
The group said that it had temporarily suspended work at the facility, which is in Kunduz, and is the main trauma hospital in Afghanistan’s northeast. The hospital has stopped admitting new patients, although the current patients are still being treated, the organization said.
“This serious event puts at risk the lives of thousands of people who rely on the center for urgent care,” Dr. Bart Janssens, the organization’s director of operations, said in the statement.
The local army brigade commander in Kunduz, Colonel Nader, said he did not believe the army was involved. “Afghan National Army Special Forces have neither raided any hospital nor arrested anyone whatsoever,” he said. “We completely deny that Afghan National Army had any involvement at all.”
Local officials, however, speculated that a police or army unit from another part of the country had been involved. Calls seeking clarification from Interior Ministry officials went unanswered Friday night.
Afghan civilians wounded in crossfire and bomb blasts around the country usually turn to trauma care hospitals run by nongovernmental organizations such as Doctors Without Borders or Emergency, an Italian organization. Patients often come from neighboring provinces to seek care.
The hospitals generally refuse to permit armed men onto the premises, but they treat not only civilians but also wounded combatants from both sides of the conflict. “We never take sides,” Dr. Janssens said in the statement. “Our doctors treat all people according to their medical needs.”