A defense official has revealed the August 29 drone strike on an ISIS-K operative actually killed an aid worker and 9 members of his family, including 7 children, CBS reports.
The defense official told CBS News that the movements of the aid worker, Zemari Ahmadi tracked with with intelligence about ISIS plans for an attack at Kabul airport.
A drone had observed men loading what were thought to be explosives into Ahamdi's vehicled, but were actually jugs of water.
The deadly drone strike set off a large secondary explosion, which officials originally claimed was evidence the car was indeed carrying explosives, but an investigation determined was likely a propane tank located in the driveway.
Gen. McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, is set to announce that 10 civilians were killed, but no disciplinary action is expected, according to Fox News reporter Lucas Tomlinson.
The New York Times first reported that the vehicle struck belonged to Ahmadi, a 43-year-old aid worker who worked with the US, and he and nine of his family members were blown to bits.
Ahmadi had been loading the water jugs into his car to bring home to his family. As he pulled into the driveway of the home he shared with his family and three of his brothers' families, several of his children and his brothers' children ran out to greet him, according to family members, when a US commander launched a Hellfire missile onto the vehicle.
A damaged vehicle is at the site of the U.S. airstrike in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan
The Pentagon for weeks maintained that only three civilians had died.
Days after the attack, President Joe Biden gave a speech in which he marked the withdrawal of American troops in Afghanistan by the August 31 deadline. He touted America's ability to strike terrorists and targets without boots on the ground. But he failed to mention the high civilian casualty rate from the August 29 drone strike, and he failed to mention that children had been killed.
'We struck ISIS-K remotely, days after they murdered 13 of our service members and dozen of innocent Afghans. And to ISIS-K, we are not done
