To prevent an impending attack on the airport in Kabul, the US military launched a drone attack. A fatal mistake: instead of extremists, civilians were hit.
The US military has admitted that it killed innocent civilians instead of extremists in a drone attack in the Afghan capital of Kabul in late August. The air strike was a “tragic mistake,” said General Kenneth McKenzie, who heads the US Central Command Centcom, in a video link in front of journalists on Friday. An investigation showed that up to ten innocent people, including up to seven children, died. It is believed that it is unlikely that the vehicle and the people killed posed a direct threat to the US armed forces or were associated with Isis-K, an offshoot of the IS terrorist group.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin offered his condolences to the families of those killed and said: “We apologize and will endeavor to learn from this terrible mistake.” He ordered to investigate to what extent processes might have to be changed in future drone attacks.
Drone attack kills civilians
After the radical Islamist Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in mid-August, the US and its international partners launched a large-scale military evacuation mission to get Western citizens and vulnerable Afghans out of the country. In the midst of the evacuation operation at the end of August, dozens of Afghans and 13 US soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack by IS, which is hostile to the Taliban, outside Kabul airport. The US responded with air strikes and targeted Isis-K fighters.
The US military initially claimed to have killed two high-ranking representatives of Isis-K with a drone attack in the Afghan province of Nangarhar. In Kabul, on August 29, the US military used a drone to attack a car near the airport in which the Americans also suspected Isis K supporters. It was argued that this may have prevented another serious terror attack at the airport.
Shortly after this air attack, the media reported that several civilians had died in the drone attack. The US did not directly reject this, but announced an examination. Chief of Staff Mark Milley defended the attack after initial reports of possible civilian casualties.
The US military had originally announced that there was “a large amount of explosives” in the destroyed vehicle, which may have resulted in further casualties. We now know more, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Friday.
McKenzie: “As a commander, I am fully responsible”
McKenzie specifically said, “I’m here today to straighten this out and admit our mistake.” He stressed: “This blow was carried out in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our armed forces from the evacuees at the airport, but that was a mistake.” The US military deeply regrets this.
During his appearance, McKenzie set out the processes in the hours before the air strike and presented a map on which the movements of the car hit were traced. It was not a “hasty attack”, he stressed. The vehicle had previously been observed for eight hours and was very worried that it was moving towards the airport. The Americans expected further attacks there in the last few days before the US military withdrew.
McKenzie apologized for the dramatic miscalculation, but defended the drone attack with the suspected threat and emphasized that it was a self-defense attack. When asked, the general said that compensation was being considered. It was not more specific. But he emphasized: “As the commander, I am fully responsible for the tragic outcome of the attack.”
“President Biden has the ultimate responsibility,” said Republican Jim Inhofe, who also sits on the Senate Defense Committee. “His hasty withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan has left our military with the impossible task of fighting terrorists without staff or partners on the ground.” According to ex-President Donald Trump, the US has never been so “embarrassed and humiliated”. The government wanted to show that they were “tough guys” and that many people were killed because of “incompetent generals”.
Journalists appeal to the international community
The last US troops left Kabul at the end of August, shortly after the drone attack. This ended the international military operation in Afghanistan after almost 20 years. President Joe Biden’s administration has already faced massive international criticism because of the troop withdrawal and the chaotic circumstances. The dramatic and consequential mistake in the drone attack in Kabul is therefore particularly serious for the Biden government.
Meanwhile, more than 100 Afghan journalists on Saturday appealed to the international community to develop measures to protect press freedom in Afghanistan. Protection guarantees are most urgent, especially for journalists, they declared anonymously in an appeal via Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Attacks on photographers and reporters and the interference of the now ruling militant-Islamist Taliban in media work raised the fear of the worst.
The journalists are urging concrete support to enable Afghan editorial offices to continue working. In the short term, diplomatic, consular and financial help is needed to evacuate journalists at risk. Refugees must be helped to work in journalism abroad. The international institutions would have to obtain concrete commitments from Afghanistan’s new leaders when negotiating with the Taliban.
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