Afghanistan: U.S. proposes to pay 10 families killed in botched drone attack-News

The United States said on Friday that it has offered to pay unspecified compensation to the relatives of 10 people in Afghanistan, including seven children who were mistakenly killed in a U.S. drone attack when the U.S. military completed its withdrawal.

The Pentagon also said in a statement that it is working with the State Department to relocate any relatives who wish to leave Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to the United States.

The Pentagon said in a statement that on Thursday, Colin Carr, the deputy defense secretary in charge of policy, and Steven Quan, the founder and president of an aid organization called “Nutrition and Education International” active in Afghanistan. (Steven Kwon) proposed to pay these people during the meeting. .

The organization hired Ezmarai Ahmadi, who was mistakenly identified as a Daesh militant by US intelligence agencies in the last few days of the US’s chaotic evacuation from Kabul on August 29.

US intelligence agencies tracked his white Toyota car for 8 hours, then used missiles to target the car, killing 7 children and 3 adults including Ahmadi.

General Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of the US Central Command, said at the time that the US intelligence services had seen the car at a location in Kabul that was believed to be the location where Islamic State agents were preparing to attack the Kabul airport.

Three days ago, the Daesh-Khorasan suicide bomber killed dozens of people at the airport, including 13 American soldiers.

But last month, US officials admitted that the drone attack was a mistake.

At the meeting on Thursday, “Dr. Carl pointed out that the attack was a tragic mistake. Mr. Ezmalai Ahmadi and the other victims were innocent victims. They did not bear any responsibility, and they did not bear any responsibility. Daesh)-K has nothing to do or poses a threat to the U.S. military,” said John Kirby, a spokesman for the Department of Defense, in a statement.

“Dr. Carl reaffirmed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s commitment to his family, including providing special condolences,” he added, but did not specify how much funding was provided.

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Relatives of those killed in the attack last month demanded compensation and apologized in person.

Austin apologized for this botched attack. However, Farshad Haidari, Ahmadi’s 22-year-old nephew, said this was not enough.

“They must come here and apologize to us face to face,” he told AFP in a simple bombed house in the densely populated Kwaja Burga of Kabul.

Haidari’s brother Naser and his young cousin were also killed in the explosion. He said on September 18 that the United States had no direct contact with his family.

At the Thursday meeting, Kwon, the head of NEI, talked about how Ahmadi worked with the aid organization to “provide care and life-saving assistance for people facing high mortality in Afghanistan for many years.”