'It was a mistake': Pentagon calls Kabul drone strike ‘error’, admits killing civilians

“As the combatant commander, I am fully responsible for this strike and its tragic outcome,” were the words for US Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie on Friday as the United States Armed Forces Central Command [USCENTCOM] admitted that the Kabul drone strike that killed one 10-member Ahmadi family was “

.” US Central Command had obliterated a white Toyota Corolla sedan with a hellfire missile from a reaper drone in Kabul during closing days of evacuations, stating that the vehicle contained ISIS “planner and a facilitator” and explosives intended to bomb the American troops at the Hamid Karzai International Airport. 

Speaking at a presser on September 17, the head of US Central Command Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie concurred that the military, in fact, was “very wrong” as he admitted that the drone strike, in actual, had killed 10 civilians, including seven children, of whom there was 2 girl child each 2 years old. 

“I offer my profound condolences to the family and friends of those who are killed. This strike was taken in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our forces and the evacuees at the airport, but it was a mistake,” Gen. Frank McKenzie,  head of US Central Command, told a Pentagon news conference.

“The strike was a tragic mistake,” he went on to reiterate, apologizing for the gory error and adding that the Pentagon was considering making reparation payments to the family of the victims. 

'I profoundly regret it,' says USCENTCOM head Gen. McKenzie

Gen. McKenzie outlined that the car was tracked for about eight hours, and the military had an “earnest belief” — based on a standard of “reasonable certainty” — that it posed an imminent threat as there was intelligence that it would be carrying explosives in its trunk.

In their initial response after the strike, the Pentagon officials had claimed that the strike was conducted accurately despite that the on-ground investigation revealed civilian casualties. American broadcasters later reported that the alleged “ISIS planner” was in fact a driver, who was a longtime employee at a California-based humanitarian organization and not a threat associated with ISIS-K. US military’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley had previously called the drone strike “righteous”. 

Gen. McKenzie said Friday that he is "fully responsible for this strike and this tragic outcome.” Asked by a reporter during the press conference as to how the "complete and utter failure" may have occurred on behalf of the military, Gen. McKenzie said, "While I agree that this strike certainly did not come up to our standards and I profoundly regret it, I would not qualify the entire operation in those terms.” US Central Command had asserted earlier that there was a "significant secondary explosions” threat from the struck vehicle and there was evidence that it carried a "substantial amount of explosive material”. 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin offers 'condolences' to bombed victims

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “offers his deepest condolences to surviving family members of those who were killed, including late Mr. Ahmadi, and to the staff of Nutrition and Education International, Mr. Ahmadi’s employer.” Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., commander of US Central Command acknowledged, that aid worker Zemari Ahmadi who worked for 14 years as a technical engineer in Afghanistan for Pasadena, and 10 members of a family were “tragically killed” on Aug. 29 during the chaotic Biden administration evacuations. 

“We now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K or a direct threat to US forces,” he stressed. US Defense Department said in a statement that a decision was yet to be made on financial compensation, Kirby told the presser that he was unaware if anyone should be punished for the serious mistake. Gen. McKenzie also agreed that the  “secondary explosion” was caused by a propane tank and not ISIS-K bombs.