Afghans still worried over drone strikes after US puts limits on drone use
Abdullah Amirzada
Press TV, Kabul
US president Joe Biden has signed a new classified policy that limits the country’s drone operations and tightens the rules of engagement.
This policy will limit drone operations in several countries where the US has carried out many strikes in recent years, including Afghanistan. US drones, however, are still flying in the skies of Afghanistan, and people are worried that deadly strikes could still happen at any moment.
Back in 2017, the Trump administration replaced old guidelines with a looser set of rules for drone engagement that led to a 330 percent rise in civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Research by an independent media organization shows that from 2015 to 2020 alone, between 300 to 900 civilians lost their lives to US drone operations. Experts say that even with the new policy adopted, US drones in Afghanistan are still dangerous.
The aforementioned policy requires “near certainty” that a target is a member of a designated terrorist group and “near certainty” that no civilians will be killed or injured before pulling the trigger. But it still remains unclear what this “near certainty” standard means in practice.
The precision of US drone attacks in Afghanistan has always been under question. There have been many examples of misguided US strikes, notably an attack just before the withdrawal of US forces last year that killed 10 members of a family. People here are still concerned that they might be the next target.
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