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21 AWEMainta .com Diabierna, 17 September 2021

INTERN A TION AL

U.S. military admits ‘horrible mistake’ in

Kabul drone strike that killed 10 Afghans

A U.S. drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians,

including seven children, was conducted after
numerous miscalculations by commanders who
wrongly believed an aid worker was hauling

explosives in his car, defense officials acknowledged
Friday, reversing the Pentagon’s earlier adamance

that the operation prevented an imminent suicide
attack on U.S. forces.

The Defense Department had previously defended
the Aug. 29 operation as a “righteous strike,” saying Amal Ahmadi, 32, holds a picture of his brother Zamerai
Ahmadi (Bernat Armangue/AP)
it tracked a white sedan for hours after the vehicle
left a suspected Islamic State-Khorasan safe house. It also highlights flaws in the Biden administration’s
In fact, the driver, Zamarai Ahmadi, was a longtime strategy for targeting threats that emerge in

aid worker for a U.S.-based group and was hauling Afghanistan from long distance, a plan analysts
water cans for his family, officials acknowledged. have criticized as being vulnerable to inadequate
intelligence and overconfidence among commanders

“We now know that there was no connection reading ordinary behaviors as evidence of malicious
between Mr. Ahmadi and ISIS-Khorasan, that his intent.
activities on that day were completely harmless The strike bookended the U.S.-led war with what

and not at all related to the imminent threat we has come to symbolize Western intervention in
Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa: airstrikes
believed we faced, and that Mr. Ahmadi was just that kill civilians, followed by initial Pentagon denials

as innocent a victim as were the others tragically that it may have made mistakes.
killed,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a
statement announcing the military’s conclusions. “This is not the end of their obligations. They have to

“We apologize, and we will endeavor to learn from do their own internal investigation to figure out if any
this horrible mistake.” crimes were committed,” said Brian Castner, a senior

crisis adviser at Amnesty International and a former
The chain of missteps ending with the missile strike Air Force bomb technician, describing international
came days after a suicide attack at the Kabul airport laws governing whether a strike is proportional
claimed the lives of at least 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. to the threat it poses for civilians. “And there’s the

troops, inviting a sense of urgency that may have obligation to families to then pay compensation
been misplaced. afterward.”

@BBCWorld @euronews @CNN
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