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Pentagon attempts to bribe relatives of Afghans killed in drone strike

Saturday, 16 October 2021 7:55 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 16 October 2021 8:09 PM ]

A relative of Ezmarai Ahmadi, is pictured through the wreckage of a vehicle that was damaged in a US drone strike in the Kwaja Burga neighborhood of Kabul on September 18, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

The United States military has offered to pay unspecified bribes to the relatives of 10 Afghan nationals who were killed in a botched US drone attack in Afghanistan last month.

The US drone attack in Kabul on a car in mid-September left seven children and three adults dead, including the driver.

Members of the Afghan family killed in strike demanded a face-to-face apology and compensation on Saturday.

The driver, Ezmarai Ahmadi, had been wrongly identified as a militant.

US intelligence had tracked Ahmadi's white Toyota for eight hours on August 29 before targeting it with a missile, killing all the children and adults aboard.

General Frank McKenzie, the top general of US Central Command at the Pentagon, admitted that the deadly strike was an error on behalf of US forces.

McKenzie told reporters that the strike was a "mistake" and offered an apology.

US military admits killing 10 Afghan civilians, including 7 children

The US military has admitted killing ten Afghan civilians, including seven children, in a drone strike last month.

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has denounced the US military drone strike in Afghanistan that killed 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children. He said the deadly attack was "unacceptable."

"I certainly hope they understand what happened and make sure that never happens again. And this is not only a human tragedy, it reflects on us before the entire world. It's unacceptable," Sanders said of the Biden administration while talking to CBS News after the mid-September attack.

Relatives of an Afghan family wiped out in a US drone strike last month are demanding justice from international institutions as well as a face-to-face apology from American officials.

The Pentagon kept insisting for over two weeks that the August 29 strike was warranted and necessary to prevent an attack on American troops in the wake of a bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 US military servicemen and as many as 170 Afghan civilians.