A top United States military commander acknowledged on Friday that an airstrike conducted in Kabul on August 29 to target suspected Islami...
A top United States military commander acknowledged on Friday that an airstrike conducted in Kabul on August 29 to target suspected Islamic State-Khorasan terrorists was a “tragic mistake”.
General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the US Central Command, made the statement while announcing the findings of an investigation that was ordered after reports that civilians died in the strike.
The airstrike was conducted to target a vehicle that was ferrying people whom American officials had then described as “multiple suicide bombers” from the terrorist group.
The strike was conducted three days after a bomb blast outside the Kabul airport that killed at least 170 people, including 13 US troops. The blast took place amid efforts to evacuate people from Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country.
At the time, US Navy Captain Bill Urban had said that authorities were confident that they had successfully hit the target, but had said that there may have been civilian casualties.
General McKenzie on Friday said that 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were killed in the strike. “Moreover, we now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K or were a direct threat to U.S. forces,” he said.
LIVE: @PentagonPresSec John F. Kirby and @CENTCOM commander, Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., hold...
