Asia

No US troops to be punished for Afghan deadly strike

No US military personnel will be reprimanded for the August drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children, two defense officials said Monday.

The strike was launched three days after a deadly suicide bombing outside Kabul airport that killed 13 US military members and scores of Afghan civilians. The US had intelligence that the Islamic State Khorasan, the militant group’s Afghanistan affiliate, was plotting an attack against the airport using a white Toyota Corolla, but they began tracking the wrong vehicle after it showed up at a known Daesh location, according to a Pentagon review.

The review found that the incident did not violate any laws of war but left decisions on punishment up to the commanders. The two senior commanders — Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, and Gen. Rich Clarke, head of US Special Operations Command — both recommended no punishment for the troops involved, according to the officials, who also stated Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin agreed.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed the news, which was first reported by The New York Times, at a Monday afternoon news conference.

“It wasn’t an outcome that we came to without careful thought and consideration,” Kirby noted, adding, “There was not a strong enough case to be made for personal accountability.”

The driver of the Toyota, Zemari Ahmadi, worked for a California-based aid organization, Nutrition & Education International.

“This decision is shocking,” stressed Dr. Steven Kwon, the founder and president of the aid group.

“How can our military wrongly take the lives of 10 precious Afghan people, and hold no one accountable in any way?” Kwon asked.

The incident occurred during a chaotic period in Kabul when the US was working to evacuate thousands of Americans, Afghans and other allies in the aftermath of the collapse of the country’s government.

The vehicle driven by Ahmadi – the intended target of the strike — was assessed at the time as an imminent threat to US forces at Hamid Karzai International Airport, 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) away. Multiple issues, including execution errors, confirmation bias and communication breakdowns, led to the mistaken drone strike, according to the review.

The 10 dead Afghan civilians were all members of the same extended family, relatives told NBC News, and included the seven children, some as young as 2 and 3.

In September, McKenzie made a rare public admission that the strike “was a mistake”, and stated he is “fully responsible for this strike and the tragic outcome”.

The Pentagon has vowed to provide condolence payments to the victims’ relatives and help them relocate to the US, but the payments have yet to be made and the family members are still in Afghanistan, officials said.

IFP Media Wire

Reports and views published in the Media Wire section have been retrieved from other news agencies and websites, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website. The IFP may change the headlines of the reports in a bid to make them compatible with its own style of covering Iran News, and does not make any changes to the content. The source and URL of all reports and news stories are mentioned at the bottom of each article.

Recent Posts

Iranian shepherd soothes attacking bear

A video has gone viral in Iran showing a shepherd trying to calm down a…

8 hours ago

Iran’s Lake Urmia sees significant improvement amidst restoration efforts

An Iranian official reports that the shrinking Lake Urmia is in better condition than last…

10 hours ago

Four terrorists killed during clash with IRGC forces in Iran’s southeast

Iranian security forces have killed another four terrorists in the southeastern city of Rask in…

12 hours ago

Former Parliament chief: Iran should not tie affairs to Trump

The former speaker of the Iranian Parliament and a current member of the country's Expediency…

12 hours ago

IRGC chief commander: Resistance grandeur led to changes in US leadership

The commander-in-chief of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) says that the power of Palestinian…

13 hours ago

Iran signs key agreements during communications minister’s visit to Cuba, Venezuela

Iran’s Minister of Communications Sattar Hashemi has recently concluded a "productive" six-day trip to Cuba…

15 hours ago