DEVELOP … The story will be updated as soon as new information can be verified. Updated 4 times
KABUL, Afghanistan – A survivor of a misdirected US drone attack that killed 10 members of his family Saturday called for those responsible to be punished, saying Washington’s apology was not enough.
The family is also demanding financial compensation and relocation to the United States or other safe country, said Emal Ahmadi, whose 3-year-old daughter Malika was among the victims of the August 29 strike.
On that day, a US Hellfire missile hit the car that Ahmadi’s brother Zemerai had just driven into the driveway of the Ahmadi family compound when children ran towards him. A total of 10 family members, including seven children, were killed in the strike.
On Friday, US Navy General Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, described the attack as a “tragic mistake” and said that innocent civilians were actually killed in the attack.
The US military initially defended the attack by stating that it had targeted the “mediator” of an IS group and the ability of the militants to attack in the chaotic final stages of the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan late last month perform, disturbed.
Discrepancies quickly emerged between the military representation of the attack and the findings on the ground. The Associated Press and other news outlets reported that the driver of the target vehicle was a long-time employee of a US humanitarian organization. There was no evidence of a major secondary explosion, despite claims by the Pentagon that the vehicle contained explosives.
The drone attack followed a devastating suicide attack by ISIS – a rival of the Taliban – that killed 169 Afghans and 13 US military personnel at one of the gates of Kabul airport in late August. At the time, many Afghans desperate to flee the Taliban had crowded the airport gates in hopes of evacuation flights.
McKenzie apologized for the mistake and said the United States is considering making reparations to the victims’ families.
Emal Ahmadi told the AP on Saturday that he wanted the US to investigate who fired the drone and punish those responsible.
“That is not enough for us to apologize,” said Ahmadi, who heard from friends in America of the US apology. “The US should find the person who did this.”
Ahmadi said he was relieved that an apology was offered and that the family members he had lost were recognized as innocent victims, but that it will not bring them back. He said he was frustrated that despite repeated inquiries, the family never received a call from US officials.
He looked exhausted as he sat in front of the charred wreckage of his brother’s car.
In the days leading up to the Pentagon’s apology, reports from the family, documents from colleagues the AP had seen, and the scene at the family home – where Zemerai’s car was hit by the missile – all strongly contradicted reports from the U.S. military.
Instead, they painted a picture of a family who had worked for Americans and tried to get visas for the United States, fearing for their lives under the Taliban.
Zemerai Ahmadi was the breadwinner of the family and had looked after his three brothers, including Emal, and their children.
“Now I am someone who is responsible for my whole family and who is unemployed,” said Emal Ahmadi. The situation is “not good,” said Ahmadi of life under the Taliban.
International aid organizations and the United Nations are warning of an impending humanitarian crisis that could bring most Afghans below the poverty line.
McKenzie said the decision to attack a white Toyota Corolla sedan after it had been tracked for about eight hours was made with a “serious conviction” – based on a standard of “reasonable assurance” – that it posed an imminent threat to the American armed forces represented the airport of Kabul. The car is said to have carried explosives in the trunk, he said.
But Ahmadi wondered how the family home could be mistaken for an Islamic State hiding place.
“The US can see from anywhere,” he said of US drone capabilities. “You can see innocent children around the car and in the car. Whoever did that should be punished. “
“It’s not right,” he added.
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