US military admits it killed 10 civilians and targeted wrong vehicle in Kabul airstrike

A United States military investigation into a deadly Kabul drone strike on a vehicle in August has found it killed 10 civilians and the driver, and that the vehicle targeted was likely not a threat associated with ISIS-K, announced Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top general of US Central Command, at the Pentagon.

McKenzie told reporters that the strike, which killed 10 civilians including 7 children, was a “mistake” as he offered his sincere apologies and assumed the responsibility for its tragic outcome.

“This strike was taken in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our forces and the evacuees at the airport, but it was a mistake and I offer my sincere apology,” he added that he is “fully responsible for this strike and this tragic outcome.”

After the drone strike in Kabul, the Pentagon had maintained that at least one ISIS-K facilitator and three civilians were killed in what Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley had previously called a “righteous strike” on the compound on August 29.

The investigation released Friday found that all of those killed in the residential compound were civilians.

The strike was in order to make the terror group ISIS-K “pay” for its deadly suicide attack in Kabul, last month, where at least 13 US service members 72 Afghans were killed.

U.S president Joe Biden, who hailed the strike as an example of the U.S’ ability to target ISIS-K in his August speech, was briefed on the details of the investigation on Friday morning, according to CNN.
The White House has not yet commented on the investigation’s findings.

Mark A. Milley, the Joint Chiefs chairman, also, released a statement on the strike calling it “a horrible tragedy,” as he promised, “to being fully transparent about this incident.”

Human rights group Amnesty International said that America’s admission of killing 10 civilians, including 7 children, was an “important step toward accountability” but added that Washington needs to take more steps, including paying reparations to family members and survivors of the strike.