US military responsible for drone strike in Kabul will not be prosecuted

They thought they were hitting members of the Islamic State organization in Khorassan (EI-K) and “Remove an imminent threat” three days after the suicide bomber attack at Kabul airport, from which thousands of people had tried to flee Afghanistan since the Taliban took power. The US military involved in the drone strike that killed ten civilians, including seven children, on August 29, will not be punished, the Pentagon announced on Monday December 13.

“There were not enough solid elements to retain personal responsibilities”Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. “What happened was a dysfunction of the decision-making and execution process, and it was not the result of negligence, fault or bad command” added the spokesperson.

On August 29, the US military, then informed of a possible attack by ISIS on evacuation operations near the airport, decided to target what it believed to be a car filled with explosives. Surrounding this white Toyota vehicle were in fact present Ezmarai Ahmadi, an Afghan who had worked for an American NGO, Nutrition and Education International, as well as nine members of his family, including seven children.

Compensating the families of victims

The non-sanction decision announced on Monday was taken by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after a report by two senior officials, General Kenneth McKenzie and General Richard Clarke. The first is the head of Centcom, the military region that includes Afghanistan. The second is the chief of special operations. Neither officer had issued a recommendation for individual sanctions, said John Kirby.

The United States has offered to financially compensate the relatives of Afghan civilians killed by ” error “ by this American fire, the Pentagon spokesman announced on October 15. On November 3, the Pentagon claimed that the strike in Kabul was a tragic mistake, but that it did not violate the laws of war. “The investigation did not identify any violation of the law, including the law of war”, said in a report Lieutenant General Sami Said, an official in the Ministry of Defense.

This strike was carried out the day before the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, which took place on August 30, after twenty years of presence in the country. It was the longest war in US history.