WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has disciplined 16 service members for mistakes that led to the deadly airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in northern Afghanistan last fall, but no one will face criminal charges.
The punishments follow a six-month Pentagon investigation into the disastrous Oct. 3 attack, which killed 42 medical staff, patients and other Afghans, and wounded dozens more at the international humanitarian aid group's trauma center in Kunduz.
The 16 found at fault include a two-star general, the crew of an Air Force AC-130 attack aircraft and Army special forces personnel, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal investigation.
One officer was suspended from command and ordered out of Afghanistan. The other 15 were given lesser punishments: Six were sent to counseling, seven were issued letters of reprimand, and two were ordered to retraining courses.
Doctors Without Borders had informed U.S. and Afghan officials of the hospital's GPS coordinates numerous times in the days before the airstrike because of fighting in the area, the military has acknowledged, and the facility was on U.S. list of prohibited targets.
The Americans who repeatedly raked the hospital with heavy fire believed they were targeting a separate building several hundred yards away where several Taliban fighters were supposedly hiding.
Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF for its French name, Medecins Sans Frontieres, is based in Geneva and has won the Nobel Peace Prize for its work in war zones and during epidemics.
It described the attack on the clearly marked medical facility in Kunduz as a likely war crime. The incident generated an outcry from international aid groups, some of whom demanded criminal prosecution.
"The gravity of harm caused by the reported failures to follow protocol in Kunduz appears to constitute gross negligence that warrants active pursuit of criminal liability," Donna McKay, executive director of the nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights, wrote in a letter to the White House and Pentagon on Monday.
Gen. Joseph L. Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, is expected to announce the administrative actions Friday at the Pentagon. He will not release names of the 16 because some are overseas or in units that are regularly deployed.
Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, will post more than 3,000 pages of a redacted investigative report on its website after Votel appears.
The investigation focused on why a heavily armed AC-130 attack aircraft made multiple strafing runs on a hospital even as aid officials frantically called U.S. officials in Kabul and Washington to stop the attack.
The aircraft obliterated the hospital's main building, including an emergency room, intensive care unit and operating theater. The attack lasted more than 30 minutes and killed 24 patients, 14 staff members and four caretakers. Some patients burned to death in their beds.
Gen. John F. Campbell, then-commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said in November that the "cause of this tragedy was ... avoidable human error, compounded by process and equipment failures."
Campbell said decisions on whether to prosecute anyone would be made by him and the U.S. Special Operations Command, where Votel was commander before he was assigned to Central Command.
Campbell, who retired last month, ordered discipline for 12 of the 16 personnel involved. He suspended an officer, issued three letters of reprimand, ordered six into counseling and sent two to retraining courses.
The attack was launched in error as U.S. warplanes, backed by special operations troops, were assisting Afghan forces fighting to retake Kunduz from the Taliban, which had captured the city in September.
A preliminary investigation last fall found that "fatigue and high operation tempo" had played a role after several days of intense fighting.
Votel issued four letters of reprimand and suspended the AC-130 aircrew from performing flight operations until they passed a flight evaluation board, which will determine when they can return to service.
Tim Shenk, a spokesman for Doctors Without Borders, said Wednesday that the aid organization would not comment on the punishments until the military publicly released its investigation.
The Pentagon is expected to brief the group before Votel speaks to the news media on Friday.
Shortly after he replaced Campbell as commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John W. Nicholson met with representatives of Doctors Without Borders, family members of victims, and community leaders in Kunduz on March 23 and offered a personal apology.
"As commander, I wanted to come to Kunduz personally and stand before the families and people of Kunduz to deeply apologize for the events which destroyed the hospital and caused the deaths of the hospital staff, patients and family members," he said. "I grieve with you for your loss and suffering, and humbly and respectfully ask for your forgiveness."
In an April 1 post on the group's website, Dr. Evangeline Cua, a surgeon, recounted staff "braving the volley of gunshots coming from above" beginning at about 2 a.m.:
"An aircraft? Airstrike? Why the hospital? Why us? Then, without warning, another tremendous, earsplitting blast shook the building. The ceiling came crashing down on us and the last remaining lights were turned off, sending us into total darkness. I screamed in terror as wires pinned me to the ground."
In a separate incident Wednesday in Syria, airstrikes reportedly killed 27 people, including six medical staffers, at a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross in a rebel-controlled portion of the contested city of Aleppo.