The US military admitted on Monday to using an armored vehicle to break into the compound of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, that earlier this month was destroyed by US airstrikes. A joint US, Afghan, and NATO group of investigators tore down the gate to the hospital on Oct.? 15 using an Afghan track vehicle. The group is part of a Casualty Assessment Team inspecting the site to determine if the US AC-130 attack on Oct. 3 killed innocent civilians, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said on Monday. The military personnel should have coordinated with Doctors Without Borders, letting them know they were going to be at the hospital. The NATO force, when it arrived, assumed there would be no Doctors Without Borders staff on site, but the group was inspecting the structural integrity of the facility to see if it could be rebuilt. A preliminary report on the incident, which should detail the number of civilians killed, is expected this week.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.