Daily US Times: The United States has admitted that a drone strike in Afghan capital Kabul days before its military pullout killed 10 innocent people.
An investigation by the US Central Command found that an aid worker – named as Zamairi Ahmadi – and nine members of his family, including seven children, died in the 29 August strike.
The youngest child, Sumaya, was just 2 years old.
The deadly drone strike happened days after a terror attack at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International airport, amid a frenzied evacuation effort following the Taliban’s sudden takeover of the country.
The strike was one of the US military’s final acts in Afghanistan, before ending its two-decades-long operation in the country.
US intelligence had tracked the aid worker’s vehicle for eight hours, believing it was linked to IS-K militants, US Central Command Gen Kenneth McKenzie said.
The investigation found the aid worker’s car had been seen at a compound associated with IS-K, – a local branch of the Islamic State (IS) group- and its movements aligned with other intelligence about the terror group’s plans for an attack on Kabul airport.
A surveillance drone saw men loading what appeared to be explosives into the boot of the car at one point, but these turned out to be containers of water.
Gen McKenzie described the strike as a “tragic mistake”, and added that the Taliban hadn’t been involved in the intelligence that led to the strike.
The strike happened as the aid worker pulled into the driveway of his home, 3km (1.8 miles) from the airport.
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