According to the US military, a drone strike on August 29th successfully eliminated an imminent threat
A NYT report based on footage recently obtained suggests that the strike mistook for an aid worker.
Ten Afghan civilians were among the casualties of the strike, seven of them children.
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According to a New York Times report, the US mistakenly believed that he was an ISIS K militant who was preparing for terror attacks. The August 29th strike resulted in the deaths of 10 Afghan civilians, seven of them children.
According to the report, Zemari Ahmadi was also killed in the Hellfire missile of 20 pounds that was fired at his car.
The threat posed to the car by the US military was interpreted as imminent and the US military justified the drone attack as a "righteous strike". Officials claimed that the military believed that the car was being loaded with explosives in preparation for an attack.
However, footage taken by The New York Times shows Ahmadi actually loading his car with water containers for his house.
Insider asked for comment but the Pentagon did not respond immediately.
As the US was finishing up its withdrawal from Afghanistan and an unorganized evacuation process, the August 29 strike was executed. The strike came just days after an ISIS K attack on Kabul's airport claimed the lives of 13 US soldiers and 169 civilians in Afghanistan. There were fears that ISIS-K might launch another attack after the evacuation was completed.
Joe Biden, President of the United States, has indicated that even though there are no US troops on the ground in Afghanistan now, the US will continue to strike ISIS-K through drone strikes and other means.
Drones used in counterterrorism operations have been a controversial aspect of America's global war against terror. This is especially because they are often associated with civilian casualties.
According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (based in the UK), it is estimated that between 4,126 and 10,076 Afghan civilians have been killed by US drone strikes since January 2004.
