U.S. Military Challenge Allegations of Misconduct at Afghan Hospital

<P>A U.S. military spokesman and a senior adviser to the Army's 10th Mountain Division are now pushing back against claims made by a Swedish charity group that its soldiers rampaged through a hospital in Wardak province, Afghanistan while searching for insurgents.</P> <P>A senior spokesman for Central Command (CENTCOM) Captain Jack Hanzlik said the Army did enter the hospital, but did so in cooperation with the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Police, and the staff of the hospital.</P> <P>Anders Fange, the country director of the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, on Monday accused troops of breaking down doors, searching patients' relatives and entering the ultrasound room.</P> <P>The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan put out a statement 4 days after the incident claiming: "the U.S. troops "searched all rooms, even bathrooms, male and female wards. Rooms that were locked were forcefully entered and the doors of the malnutrition ward and the ultrasound ward were broken by force to gain entry."</P> <P>The statement went on to accuse U.S. soldiers of restraining hospital workers and tying up family members of several patients.</P> <P>Captain Hanzlik told Fox News that members of Task Force 82, which includes members of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division, were chasing insurgents who had recently detonated an Improvised Explosive Device, or roadside bomb.</P> <P>Those forces, he said, had strong reason to believe that an insurgent commander was in the hospital and explained these concerns to hospital staff before seeking permission to enter the hospital.</P> <P>Coalition forces, which included members of the Afghan National Army and Police, then entered the hospital with permission from the staff, the military said. "No one was tied up," according to Hanzlik. "However, one locked door was kicked in, but again with permission from the hospital."</P> <P>In a FOX News exclusive, Lt James Peck, who was the on scene commander, said they spoke with the hospital staff before entering any of the rooms.</P> <P>"They didn't have keys for two doors. The rest they were able to open with keys, but the two they didn't have keys for, we asked them first if we could enter, and they said if we desired we could enter."</P> <P>Peck told FOX News they told the hospital they would fix the doors if they needed help.</P> <P>"We asked permission before we forcibly entered the rooms," he told FOX. "We only forcibly entered because we didn't have a way of getting into the rooms."</P> <P>The insurgent was not found. A senior civilian adviser to the 10th Mountain Division who is based in Wardak said concerns were raised about the troops having entered the hospital when the charity group's headquarters in Kabul heard that U.S. troops had entered the clinic.</P> <P>Civilian deaths and intrusive searches have bred resentment among the Afghan population nearly eight years after the U.S.-led coalition invaded to oust the Taliban's hard-line Islamist regime for sheltering Al Qaeda terrorist leaders.</P> <P>Fange said hospitals are seen as a neutral zone.</P> <P>"If the international military forces are not respecting the sanctity of health facilities, then there is no reason for the Taliban to do it either," he said. "Then these clinics and hospitals would become military targets."</P> <P>Violence has surged across much of Afghanistan since President Barack Obama ordered 21,000 more U.S. troops to the country this year. Two foreign troops were killed Sunday when their patrol hit a roadside bomb and a third died of wounded sustained in a separate gunbattle with insurgents, NATO said without giving their nationalities. All three deaths were in volatile southern Afghanistan.</P> <P><em>FOX News' Justin Fishel and Jennifer Griffin and the Associated Press contributed to this report.</em></P> <p>See also:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,547421,00.html">Former British Child Abuse Detective Guilty of Sex With Teen</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,547260,00.html">Ahmadinejad: Iran Will Not Negotiate Over Nuclear 'Rights'</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,547281,00.html">Sudan Journalist Fined $200 for Wearing Trousers </a></li> </ul>