Defense Department to Pay ‘Condolence Payments’ of Botched Drone Strike Killing Afghan Family

Late Friday the Defense Department announced it will be offering “condolence payments” to relatives of the victims killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan. The horrific error killed 10 people in August, a response which was intended for terrorists responsible for the suicide attack at the Kabul airport killing 13 U.S. Servicemen and women, 169 Afghans, and injured dozens more.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement the Defense Department was working with the State Department to help relocate surviving family members to the United States. Kirby did not say how much money would be offered, but that under secretary of defense for policy, Dr. Colin Kahl, “reiterated Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s commitment to the families, including offering ex gratia condolence payments.”

On August 29, the U.S. Hellfire missile struck a car driven by Zemerai Ahmadi who had just driven up to the family compound. 10 family members total, including seven children, were killed in the strike.

The aftermath of the terror attack in Kabul while the U.S. military was attempting to make final evacuations further details how ill-equipped the Biden administration has been to handle the troop withdrawal.

“The U.S. military initially defended the strike” on the Ahmadi compound, “saying it had targeted an Islamic State group’s ‘facilitator’ and disrupted the militants’ ability to carry out attacks during the chaotic final stage of the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan” reports the Associated Press.

Additionally, “discrepancies between the military’s portrayal of the strike and findings on the ground quickly emerged. The Associated Press and other news organizations reported that the driver of the targeted vehicle was a longtime employee at a U.S. humanitarian organization. There were no signs of a large secondary blast, despite the Pentagon’s assertion that the vehicle contained explosives” adds the AP.