Seven children and three adults die in a drone attack on a car in Kabul by the US military. The deed will have no consequences.
Washington DC / Kabul – 10 people died in a drone attack on the Afghan capital Kabul in late August. As has now been decided, those responsible will not be punished for this. According to his spokesman, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin approved a report by the army command on the attack in Afghanistan on Monday (December 13, 2021), in which no disciplinary measures are recommended against the soldiers responsible.
“What we saw was a breakdown in process, execution and procedures,” spokesman John Kirby told journalists. “It was not the result of negligence, not the result of misconduct, not the result of bad leadership.”
US drone attack in Kabul: seven dead children
On August 29, the US drone attack on a car in Kabul killed ten people, including seven children. According to official information, the US armed forces feared that the jihadist militia “Islamic State” (IS) was planning an explosive attack on Kabul airport with the vehicle – a few days after a fatal attack in the midst of the chaotic evacuation mission after the radical Islamic Taliban came to power.
In mid-September, the US armed forces finally had to admit that they had not killed supporters of IS, but civilians. The head of the US Armed Forces Central Command, General Kenneth McKenzie, spoke of a “tragic mistake” in the context of the war in Afghanistan.
US Air Force speaks of “execution errors” with regard to the Kabul attack
As early as the beginning of November, the Inspector General of the US Air Force came to the conclusion that the drone attack did not constitute a violation of martial law. Rather, “execution errors” combined with communication problems led to the “unfortunate” deaths of civilians.
General McKenzie and the Chief of Special Operations Command, General Richard Clarke, made a number of recommendations on future drone attacks based on the Inspector General’s report. However, they did not recommend any punitive measures against those responsible for the August 29 attack.
Attack in Kabul by IS: 13 dead US soldiers, 170 dead Afghans
Three days before the drone attack, an IS suicide bomber had killed 13 US soldiers and at least 170 Afghans in the middle of the ongoing evacuation mission at Kabul airport. The US armed forces and intelligence services feared further attacks before the end of the US troop withdrawal at the end of August. The Taliban had overrun the country in the midst of the international troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and claimed power again with their invasion of Kabul in mid-August. (ktho / AFP)
Rubriklistenbild: © Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi/dpa
