She still had her life ahead of her, but a drone tore Sumaya († 2) to her death. And with her six other children and three adults. Innocent civilians. The attack in the Afghan capital Kabul shook the world.
The US military had announced a clarification. And now the Pentagon admits: it was a “tragic mistake”. “I am now convinced that up to ten civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in this attack,” said US General Kenneth McKenzie, who leads the US Central Command Centcom, on Friday.
In addition, it is believed that it is unlikely that the vehicle and the people killed represented a direct threat to the US armed forces or were connected to Isis-K, an offshoot of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia.
No “rushed attack”
“This blow was carried out in the serious belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our armed forces from the evacuees at the airport, but that was a mistake,” McKenzie said.
But it was not a “hasty attack”. The vehicle had previously been observed for eight hours and was very worried that it was moving towards the airport. The Americans expected further attacks there in the last few days before the US military withdrew. McKenzie apologized, but defended the airstrike with the suspected imminent threat. However, compensation is now being considered. “As the commander, I am fully responsible for the tragic outcome of the attack,” he said.
US troops withdrew in late August
The US military had originally announced that there was “a large amount of explosives” in the destroyed vehicle, which may have resulted in further casualties. We now know more, said Petagon spokesman John Kirby. Chief of Staff Mark Milley had defended the air strike after initial reports of possible civilian casualties.
The last US troops left Kabul at the end of August – two weeks after the Taliban came to power. This ended the international mission in Afghanistan after almost 20 years
Child dies: Missile hits a residential building in Kabul(00:46)