US raids Afghan hospital

US forces have been accused of storming into a Swedish-run hospital based in Afghanistan's Wardak province in a late night raid to search for insurgents.

Nato has confirmed that security forces did enter a hospital to search for militants but said the commander asked for permission to enter the hospital. The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan rejects NATO's version of events. It says hospital workers were tied up by troops who searched wards for hours. Nato has said it is investigating.

"We take allegations like this seriously," US military spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker told the Associated Press news agency. The Swedish charity said the search was a violation of international principles and the forces' local agreements.

It says the troops forced their way into the hospital and tied up staff and patients' relatives and ejected patients from their beds during the search operation. The charity says that US forces then ordered hospital staff to report any wounded militants who turned up for treatment.

"If they (coalition forces) continue to act like this then our hospitals will become targets in the conflict," Anders Fange, country director of the charity, told the BBC. "We are waiting for a proper response from them," he said.

The incident comes as Nato says it is also investigating an air strike in Kunduz province last week, which one Afghan rights group estimates killed up to 70 civilians.

The incident has reignited the debate over military strategy in Afghanistan as Nato has made reducing civilian casualties and protecting Afghans the centrepiece of its policy. Courtesy: BBC