US to issue ‘condolence payments’ to families of victims of Afghan hospital airstrike

The Pentagon said on Saturday it would issue “condolence payments” to families of victims in the U.S. airstrike that destroyed a hospital and killed at least 22 people in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz last week.

The compensation will be handled through the already existing Commanders’ Emergency Response Program in Afghanistan, and if necessary additional authority will be sought from Congress, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.