Pentagon reverses itself, calls deadly Kabul drone strike an error

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon retreated from its defence of a drone onslaught that killed aggregate civilians successful Afghanistan past month, announcing Friday that a reappraisal revealed that lone civilians were killed successful the attack, not an Islamic State extremist arsenic archetypal believed.

“The onslaught was a tragic mistake,” Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, caput of U.S. Central Command, told a Pentagon quality conference.

McKenzie apologized for the mistake and said the United States is considering making reparation payments to the household of the victims. He said the determination to onslaught a achromatic Toyota Corolla sedan, aft having tracked it for astir 8 hours, was made successful an “earnest belief” — based connected a modular of “reasonable certainty” — that it posed an imminent menace to American forces astatine Kabul airport. The car was believed to person been carrying explosives successful its trunk, helium said.

For days aft the Aug. 29 strike, Pentagon officials asserted that it had been conducted correctly, contempt 10 civilians being killed, including 7 children. News organizations aboriginal raised doubts astir that mentation of events, reporting that the operator of the targeted conveyance was a longtime worker astatine an American humanitarian enactment and citing an lack of grounds to enactment the Pentagon’s assertion that the conveyance contained explosives.

The airstrike was the past of a U.S. warfare that ended arsenic it had begun successful 2001 — with the Taliban successful powerfulness successful Kabul. The velocity with which the Taliban overran the state took the U.S. authorities by astonishment and forced it to nonstop respective 1000 troops to the Kabul airdrome for a hurried evacuation of Americans, Afghans and others. The evacuation, which began Aug. 14, unfolded nether a near-constant menace of onslaught by the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate.

McKenzie, who oversaw U.S. subject operations successful Afghanistan, including a last evacuation of U.S. forces and much than 120,000 civilians from Kabul airport, expressed his condolences to the household and friends of those killed.

“I americium present convinced that arsenic galore arsenic 10 civilians, including up to 7 children, were tragically killed successful that strike,” McKenzie said. “Moreover, we present measure that it is improbable that the conveyance and those who died were associated with ISIS-K oregon were a nonstop menace to U.S. forces,” helium added, referring to the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate.

Prior to the strike, U.S. quality had indicated a likelihood that a achromatic Toyota Corolla would beryllium utilized successful an onslaught against U.S. forces, McKenzie said. On the greeting of Aug. 29, specified a conveyance was detected astatine a compound successful Kabul that U.S. quality successful the preceding 48 hours had determined was utilized by the Islamic State radical to program and facilitate attacks. The conveyance was tracked by U.S. drone craft from that compound to galore different locations successful the metropolis earlier the determination was made to onslaught it astatine a constituent conscionable a mates of miles from Kabul airport, McKenzie said.

“Clearly our quality was incorrect connected this peculiar achromatic Toyota Corolla,” helium said.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, successful a written statement, apologized for what helium called “a horrible mistake.”

“We present cognize that determination was nary connection” betwixt the operator of the conveyance and the Islamic State group, and that the driver’s activities that time were “completely harmless and not astatine each related to the imminent menace we believed we faced,” Austin said.

Gen. Mark Milley, president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters 2 days aft the onslaught that it appeared to person been a “righteous” onslaught and that astatine slightest 1 of the radical killed was a “facilitator” for the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate, which had killed 169 Afghan civilians and 13 American work members successful a termination bombing connected Aug. 26 astatine the Kabul airport.

After McKenzie’s remarks connected Friday, Milley expressed regret.

“This is simply a horrible calamity of warfare and it’s bosom wrenching,” Milley told reporters traveling with him successful Europe. “We are committed to being afloat transparent astir this incident.”

“In a dynamic high-threat environment, the commanders connected the crushed had due authorization and had tenable certainty that the people was valid, but aft deeper post-strike investigation our decision is that guiltless civilians were killed,” Milley added.

Accounts from the household of the victims, documents from colleagues seen by The Associated Press, and the country astatine the household location — wherever Zemerai Ahmadi’s car was struck by a Hellfire rocket conscionable arsenic helium pulled into the driveway — each painted a representation of a household that had worked for Americans and were trying to summation visas to the United States, fearing for their lives nether the Taliban.

The household said that erstwhile the 37-year-old Zemerai, unsocial successful his car, pulled up to the house, helium honked his horn. His 11-year-old lad ran retired and Zemerai fto the lad get successful and thrust the car into the driveway. The different kids ran retired to watch, and the Hellfire rocket incinerated the car, sidesplitting 7 children and an big lad and nephew of Zemerai.

Amnesty International, the humanitarian assistance group, called the U.S. military’s admittance of a mistake a bully archetypal step.

“The U.S. indispensable present perpetrate to a full, transparent, and impartial probe into this incident,” said Brian Castner, a elder situation advisor with Amnesty International. “Anyone suspected of transgression work should beryllium prosecuted successful a just trial. Survivors and families of the victims should beryllium kept informed of the advancement of the probe and beryllium fixed afloat reparation.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who is president of the House Intelligence Committee, said a fuller mentation indispensable beryllium provided.

“We request to cognize what went incorrect successful the hours and minutes starring up to the onslaught to forestall akin tragedies successful the future,” helium said. “I americium besides acrophobic astir the accuracy and completeness of nationalist statements made successful the contiguous aftermath of the strike, and whether those accounted for each of the accusation possessed by the authorities astatine the time.”