The Pentagon has offered unspecified condolence payments to the family of 10 civilians. This family of 10 was killed in a botched U.S. drone attack in Afghanistan in August. It had happened during the final days before American troops withdrew from the country. The U.S. Defense Department said it made a commitment that included offering “ex-gratia condolence payments”. This was done in addition to working with the U.S. State Department in support of the family members who were interested in relocation to the United States.
Colin Kahl is the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. He held a virtual meeting on Thursday with Steven Kwon, the founder, and president of Nutrition & Education International. He was also the aid organization that employed Zemari Ahmadi. Ahmadi was killed on August 29 in the drone attack. The Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said this late on Friday. Ahmadi and others who were killed in the strike were innocent victims who bore no blame. They were not affiliated with Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) or threats to U.S. forces. Secretary John Kirby said this too.
The drone strike in Kabul killed a lot of civilians. This attack killed as many as seven children. The Pentagon had said earlier that the strike on August 29 targeted an Islamic State suicide bomber. This suicide bomber posed a great threat to troops led by the United States at the airport as they completed the last stages of their withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, reports came out almost immediately about the drone strike. It said that the drone strike in a neighborhood west of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport had killed civilians including children. Video from the scene showed the wreckage of a car strewn around the courtyard of a building. The Pentagon later said the strike was a “tragic mistake” made by them.
US intelligence tracked his white Toyota for eight hours before targeting the car with a missile, killing seven children and three adults, including Ahmadi.
US Central Command commander General Kenneth McKenzie said at the time that American intelligence had seen the vehicle at a site in Kabul that had been identified as a location from which ISIS operatives were believed to be preparing attacks on the Kabul airport. The strike came three days after an Islamic State suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. troops and scores of Afghan civilians who had crowded outside the airport gates. These Afghan civilians were desperate to secure seats on evacuation flights after U.S.-trained Afghan forces melted away and the Taliban swept to power in the capital in mid-August. The killing of civilians also raised many questions. It questioned the future of U.S. counter-terrorism strikes in Afghanistan.
