AGAIN AND AGAIN – #OurRedLine documentary series

Episode 1_The attack
Script: subtitles and graphics

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It was raining bombs.

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The most scary thing is the shaking
of the ground.

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You feel like

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you’ve lost control.

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It's a shock.

Chyron
Faizullah Alokozai
MSF admissions officer in Kunduz 2015

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At around 2 am,
they started bombing.

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When the first bomb hit
the X-ray waiting area,

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we woke up

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and directly ran to the corridor

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to reach the basement.

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But when we were halfway,

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the bombing actually was happening,

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the line went off and the bomb hit

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there where we were running
to the corridor.

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It was dark

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and it was raining bombs.

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It's not expressible.

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It was very horrible and dangerous.

Chyron
Kunduz
Afghanistan
October 2015

Chyron
Attack on trauma hospital
October 2015

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The attack on MSF's Kunduz hospital,

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in northern Afghanistan,

Chyron
Kate Burton
MSF critical incident advisor

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took place on 3 October,

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in the very early hours of the morning,

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when a US gunship sent over
211 shells onto the hospital

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and caused immense damage,

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because there had been a lot of fighting

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between the government

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and opposition forces in the area

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in the weeks before the attack,

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so it was full of patients

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and staff and caretakers.

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It was just really busy at the time.

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42 people lost their lives
in that attack.

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I remember…
Chyron
Paula Gil
President of MSF Spain

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First the shock of:
"How could this have happened?"

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and because of the terrible
impact it had.

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It was the worst attack we have ever
suffered in our entire history.

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They accused us, claiming the hospital
was a Taliban base

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and that we were treating the enemy.

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They even said they were acting
in self-defence

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against a hypothetical threat
from the hospital.

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A hospital was destroyed by bombs

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and that was unacceptable.

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Unfortunately,
attacks on the medical mission

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have always existed.

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It's not like it came at a time

Chyron
Syria
Central African Republic
Democratic Republic of Congo
South Sudan

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when we were living in a golden age,

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when everything was respected,

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when humanitarian action
could be carried out safely, etc.

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Previous attacks had already been
reported and condemned,

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but after Kunduz,
there was a greater response,

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and several platforms

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began to collect data on attacks
against the medical mission.

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Even the United Nations Security Council

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passed Resolution 2286,
seven months after Kunduz,

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condemning the attacks on the medical
mission and calling for its protection.

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It was absolutely crucial

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for Kunduz city to have
a hospital like this.

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It was very necessary because
this is the region where

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from every northern area,

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patients can reach
the medical facilities

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and get treatments.

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Sometimes it was quite surprising to us

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because the people were coming injured

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and we used to have patients
from too far away.

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Most of our patients
were from the military attacks.

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And several people from the city.

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They were civilians.

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And after some time,
we had a lot of casualties.

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And the criteria was the same:
equal treatment for everyone.

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And trauma patients,

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the number of patients was
already getting higher and higher.

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In August 2015, we had
more than 2,867 patients.

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That month was the highest number
of patients ever

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we had in MSF [in the hospital].

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Patients were burned alive
in their beds.

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It was a horrific attack.

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People lost their limbs.

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People were blown into pieces.

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It was just a really horrific
and violent attack.

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Many more were injured
as well in the attack.

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And the damage to the whole hospital
complex was enormous.

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The other consequences
I think that should be mentioned

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is the fact that MSF had to stop
providing services in the hospital,

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so all those communities
were immediately shut off

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from this kind of medical service,

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which was really impacting for them.

Chyron
US response
Afghanistan – 25/11/2015

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This was a tragic

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but avoidable accident

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caused primarily by human error.

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The US forces directly involved
in this incident did not know

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the target compound
was the MSF trauma centre.

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The medical facility was
misidentified as a target

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by US personnel

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who believed they were striking
a different building

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several hundred metres away,

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where there were reports of combatants.

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It was a hospital that was
very well indicated.

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It was shown with the MSF logo,
on the roof, all over it.

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And it was communicated as well
to the authorities

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where the hospital was
and what its function was.

Animation
02.19 am: MSF calls the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. 
02.32 am: MSF calls the US Department of Defense in Washington. 
02.47 am: MSF sends an SMS to the Resolute Support in Afghanistan to report the death of one of its staff and the disappearance of many others. 
02.56 am: MSF sends an SMS to the Resolute Support insisting that they stop the airstrike. 
03.18 am: MSF sends an SMS to the US Department of Defense in Washington to confirm that one of its staff has died and that many others are missing. 

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The attack lasted for about an hour.

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And MSF communicated to the authorities
when the attack started

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and it kept on going for an hour.

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In the case of Kunduz,
there were four investigations.

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Our internal one,

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which we always do
after a security incident.

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One that was carried out
by the United States,

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which was made public,
but only partially.

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Another one that
the Afghan government did,

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which was never made public.

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And one by NATO,

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which was not made public,
although they did issue a statement.

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None of these investigations
was independent or external

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to the parties involved

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which is what was necessary
to obtain

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an impartial result.

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Therefore, and for the first time,
in this case we called for

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an investigation by the International
Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission,

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the only body specifically established

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to investigate possible violations

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of international humanitarian law
under the Geneva Conventions.

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But that came to nothing because neither
the United States nor Afghanistan,

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which are not even member states
of the Commission,

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agreed to it carrying out
an investigation.

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So, there are a lot of different ways
that the medical mission can be attacked.

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We've seen hospital bombings in Syria,
Ukraine, Afghanistan, Yemen.

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But also there are other types
of attacks.

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We've seen medical staff
or even patients

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in medical facilities being threatened.

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They've been detained.

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They've been killed

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right there while they're receiving
medical treatment.

Chyron
South Sudan
Sudan
Haiti
Gaza
Ukraine
Chad
South Sudan

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Then you can also have medical supplies

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and staff that can be severely restricted.

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They can't get access to an area
to give assistance.

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We've been seeing that in Gaza
since October 2023.

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Then there are other types of attacks.

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For example, medical vehicles
and stock

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can be looted.

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In a lot of different contexts
where MSF works

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we've seen this.

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And all these would constitute
attacks on the medical mission.

Chyron
UN Security Council
May 2016
Approval of Resolution 2286
May 2016

Chyron
Joanne Liu
International President of MSF in 2016

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You will be judged
not on your words today,

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but on your actions.

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Your work has only begun.

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Please make this resolution save lives.

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International humanitarian law

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is really a framework that has
its origins back in the 1800s

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and the aim of it is to provide
a minimum standard

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of protection and of humanity,

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even in the most depraved
armed conflicts

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to protect all of those
who are not participating

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in the hostilities.

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And IHL (international humanitarian law)
is really essential

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to ensure that medical infrastructure
is not manipulated

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by one of the fighting sides

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and remains a service

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to those populations who are not
involved in the fighting

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and require assistance.

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Resolution 2286
that came about in 2016

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was really essential
in this regard because it reaffirms

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what already existed,

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an international legal framework,

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which was this protection
of the medical mission.

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It reaffirmed it and it reaffirmed
the states’ commitment

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to the protection
of the medical mission.

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When the UN Security Council,

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which is the body responsible
for maintaining

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international peace and security,

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adopted Resolution 2286,

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seven months after the Kunduz attack,

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it was a moment of hope.

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However, five months later,

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the resolution had not managed
to change anything.

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Without going any further,
in August 2016,

Chyron
Yemen

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at the Abs hospital in Yemen,

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where MSF is working,

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there was an attack,
led by the Saudi Arabian coalition,

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which destroyed the hospital.

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And 19 people died,
including a health worker

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and, of course, patients
and their companions.

Chyron
UN Security Council
September 2016

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The resolution has plainly failed

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to change anything on the ground.

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Stop bombing hospitals.

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Stop bombing health workers.

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Stop bombing patients.

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Attacking hospitals
or medical facilities

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is counted as a war crime.

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And this should not happen... Never.

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But we see

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around the globe that
it is happening and…

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This is something
that should be stopped.

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This is not humanity.

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This is out of everything.

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Something that does not have…

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There are no words to condemn it.

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The attack on the Kunduz trauma centre

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is a wound that is not going to heal.

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The healing of this kind of wound
is impossible.

Text
Faizullah saw one of his colleagues die in that attack.
He lives with memories like this. He also lives with shrapnel in his back that causes him pain.
Since 2021, we have been running a new trauma hospital in Kunduz. Faizullah works there.

Call to action
Demand the protection of civilians and healthcare in conflicts around the world #OurRedLine

In the next episode
Leaving means leaving thousands,

sometimes millions, of people

without medical care.

The soul of the people
has been destroyed.

I wished for death
rather than live like that.

We've seen it

over and over and over.