Global panel seeks to investigate U.S. bombing of Afghan hospital

An international panel of experts is ready to investigate the U.S. bombing of a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Afghanistan but awaits a green light from both governments, MSF and the Swiss foreign ministry said on Wednesday. The hour-long air raid on Oct. 3 killed 22 people, including 12 MSF staff, and led to the closure of the Kunduz trauma hospital, depriving tens of thousands of Afghans of health care, the prominent medical charity said. MSF has been demanding that the independent humanitarian commission created under the Geneva Conventions in 1991 be activated for the first time to handle the sensitive inquiry.