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US promises compensation after mistakenly killing 10 in drone attack in Kabul

2021-10-16T14:33:41.659Z


Among the victims were seven children. It will be a "payment for condolence," clarified the Pentagon spokesman. It will also help to transport survivors to the country.


The US Department of Defense said Friday that it is pledging to offer a payment in the form of condolence to the families of the 10 people who were mistakenly killed in a US drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement that the Defense Department was also working with the State Department to

help family members who survived the attack move to the United States

.

The spokesman said the issue came up in a meeting Thursday between Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, and Steven Kwon, founder and president of the nonprofit group Nutrition & Education International.


Relatives and neighbors of the Ahmadi family gathered around the incinerated vehicle that was the target of a US drone attack.

The missile was allegedly targeting ISIS-K terrorists, but instead killed 10 civilians, including 7 children, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday, August 30, 2021. Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag

"Dr. Kahl reiterated Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's commitment to families, including offering

ex gratia

condolence payments

," Kirby said, without specifying how much money would be offered.

On August 29, a US Hellfire missile hit a car driven by Zemerai Ahmadi, which had just parked in front of the Ahmadi family's home.

In total,

10 family members, including seven children, were killed in the attack

.

Weeks later, General Frank McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, called the attack a

"tragic mistake"

and said that innocent civilians were indeed killed in the attack.

["We are destroyed": Afghan family mourns the death of 10 of its members, including 7 children, in the US drone attack]

This is how the last hours of the evacuation of US troops in Afghanistan are lived

Aug. 30, 202103: 43

During Thursday's meeting, Kwon told the undersecretary of defense for policy that Ahmadi, who was the target of the attack, had worked with his organization for many years, “providing life-saving care and assistance to people facing high death rates in Afghanistan ”.

The Army initially defended the attack

, saying it had targeted an Islamic State "facilitator" and had thereby stopped possible terrorist attacks during the chaotic final stage of the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan.

However, contradictions quickly emerged between the military's description of the attack and what happened on the ground.

The Associated Press and other news organizations reported that the driver of the attacked vehicle was a longtime employee of a US humanitarian organization.


A relative throws himself on the coffin of 13-year-old Farzad, who was killed in the US drone strike in Kabul.

Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

On the other hand, there were no signs that the missile's impact on the car generated a second-magnitude explosion, despite the Pentagon claiming that the vehicle contained explosives.

Last month, McKenzie said the United States was studying the possibility of paying compensation to the families of the victims. 

The drone strike followed a devastating suicide bombing by a branch of the Islamic State that killed 169 Afghans and 13 US servicemen at one of the gates of the Kabul airport in late August.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2021-10-16

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