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Afghanistan/USA-Kabul Airstrike/Pentagon
Beijing, China - Sept 18, 2021 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Graphics of casualties caused by US in Afghanistan
FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Date Unknown (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of U.S. national flag, Capitol building
FILE: Kabul, Afghanistan - Sept 26, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. National flag of Afghanistan
FILE: Kabul, Afghanistan - Date unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of U.S. troops on street
Kabul, Afghanistan - Aug 30, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of wrecked vehicles, locals at U.S. airstrike site
FILE: Kabul, Afghanistan - Sept 29, 2017 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of damaged vehicles, buildings
7. Bullet holes on vehicle
FILE: Mosul, Iraq - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Damaged building, rubble
9. Vehicle driving through damaged street
10. Gutted buildings
The U.S. military admitted on Friday that a U.S. drone strike in late August in Kabul of Afghanistan killed as many as ten civilians, including seven children.
"Having thoroughly reviewed the findings of the investigation and the supporting analysis by interagency partners, I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike," Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters at a Pentagon press briefing.
"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 added.
The general admitted the deadly strike was "a tragic mistake", saying that he's held responsibility for the air-strike together with the tragic outcome being as the combat commander.
The U.S. Central Command said on Aug 29 that it launched a drone strike on a vehicle in Kabul, which it claimed had eliminated an "imminent" threat, posed by ISIS-K, an Afghanistan-based offshoot of the Islamic State, to the Hamid Karzai International Airport, where evacuations of U.S. service members and personnel were underway.
Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, had called it a "righteous strike" with procedures correctly followed.
Media reports later emerged that the U.S. military might have hit a wrong target in the strike with civilian casualties.
Separate investigations by The New York Times and The Washington Post identified the vehicle driver as Zemarai Ahmadi, a 43-year-old electrical engineer working for Nutrition and Education International, a U.S. aid group based in Pasadena, California.
"We now know that there was no connection between Mr. Ahmadi and ISIS-Khorasan," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement on Friday. "His activities on that day were completely harmless and not at all related to the imminent threat we believed we faced, and that Mr. Ahmadi was just as innocent a victim as were the others tragically killed."
"We apologize, and we will endeavor to learn from this horrible mistake," he added.
The war in Afghanistan has led to the deaths of thousands of Afghan civilians.
A U.S. report released last month says that more than 48,000 civilians have been killed and 75,000 injured since the war began in 2001.
And it also admits both numbers are likely significantly under counted.
Deaths of children reached a record high in 2018 - accounting for nearly 30 percent of all civilian casualties that year.
In recent years, the U.S. made 455 "condolence payments" to Afghan civilians, totaling more than two million U.S. dollars.
However, many other families have not received any payments, with three million U.S. dollars in compensation yet to paid.
Afghanistan/USA-Kabul Airstrike/Pentagon
Dateline : Sept 18, 2021/File
Location : Afghanistan;China;United States
Duration : 1'39
Beijing, China - Sept 18, 2021 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Graphics of casualties caused by US in Afghanistan
FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Date Unknown (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of U.S. national flag, Capitol building
FILE: Kabul, Afghanistan - Sept 26, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. National flag of Afghanistan
FILE: Kabul, Afghanistan - Date unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of U.S. troops on street
Kabul, Afghanistan - Aug 30, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of wrecked vehicles, locals at U.S. airstrike site
FILE: Kabul, Afghanistan - Sept 29, 2017 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of damaged vehicles, buildings
7. Bullet holes on vehicle
FILE: Mosul, Iraq - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Damaged building, rubble
9. Vehicle driving through damaged street
10. Gutted buildings
The U.S. military admitted on Friday that a U.S. drone strike in late August in Kabul of Afghanistan killed as many as ten civilians, including seven children.
"Having thoroughly reviewed the findings of the investigation and the supporting analysis by interagency partners, I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike," Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters at a Pentagon press briefing.
"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 added.
The general admitted the deadly strike was "a tragic mistake", saying that he's held responsibility for the air-strike together with the tragic outcome being as the combat commander.
The U.S. Central Command said on Aug 29 that it launched a drone strike on a vehicle in Kabul, which it claimed had eliminated an "imminent" threat, posed by ISIS-K, an Afghanistan-based offshoot of the Islamic State, to the Hamid Karzai International Airport, where evacuations of U.S. service members and personnel were underway.
Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, had called it a "righteous strike" with procedures correctly followed.
Media reports later emerged that the U.S. military might have hit a wrong target in the strike with civilian casualties.
Separate investigations by The New York Times and The Washington Post identified the vehicle driver as Zemarai Ahmadi, a 43-year-old electrical engineer working for Nutrition and Education International, a U.S. aid group based in Pasadena, California.
"We now know that there was no connection between Mr. Ahmadi and ISIS-Khorasan," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement on Friday. "His activities on that day were completely harmless and not at all related to the imminent threat we believed we faced, and that Mr. Ahmadi was just as innocent a victim as were the others tragically killed."
"We apologize, and we will endeavor to learn from this horrible mistake," he added.
The war in Afghanistan has led to the deaths of thousands of Afghan civilians.
A U.S. report released last month says that more than 48,000 civilians have been killed and 75,000 injured since the war began in 2001.
And it also admits both numbers are likely significantly under counted.
Deaths of children reached a record high in 2018 - accounting for nearly 30 percent of all civilian casualties that year.
In recent years, the U.S. made 455 "condolence payments" to Afghan civilians, totaling more than two million U.S. dollars.
However, many other families have not received any payments, with three million U.S. dollars in compensation yet to paid.
ID : 8227120
Published : 2021-09-18 15:25
Last Modified : 2021-09-19 21:30:58
Source : China Media Group(CMG)-CCTV,China Media Group(CMG)-CGTN
Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland
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