Relatives of the Afghan family killed by the US drone strike that took the lives of an innocent aid worker and nine other people, including seven children, say they want compensation and resettlement in the US or another safe country.
Zemari Ahmadi, 43, died in the blast and was his family's only breadwinner. He worked for the US-based aid group Nutrition and Education International, and US officials admitted he appeared to have had no connection to ISIS-K terrorists. His fatal mistake, it appeared, was driving a white 1996 Toyota Corolla similar to one intelligence sources claimed was being driven by a known terror plotter.
Ahmadi's 24-year-old step son Samim Ahmadi told The Washington Post that 'the situation in Afghanistan is not good'. He added: 'Whether in America or another country, we want peace and comfort for our remaining years.
'Everyone makes mistakes. The Americans cannot bring back our loved ones, but they can take us out of here.'
Relatives of the Afghan family killed by the US drone strike that took the lives of an innocent aid worker and seven children want compensation and resettlement in the US or another safe country. Ahmadi's brother Emal (pictured), 32, said: 'We didn't have any money to bury our relatives. We had to borrow funds'
Zemari Ahmadi (pictured), 43, was an aid worker who was his family's only breadwinner before he was killed in the US drone strike, which also took the lives of seven children and two adult family members
A damaged vehicle at the site of the US airstrike in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan
Relatives and neighbors of the Ahmadi family gathered around the incinerated husk of Ahmadi's car
Ahmadi's brother Emal, 32, who was just feet away from the remains of the car after the blast, said: 'We didn't have any money to bury our relatives. We had to borrow funds.'
And while he said he is 'happy' the Pentagon has now acknowledged their miscalculations that led to his brother's death, 'forgiveness' was too strong a word, as reported by The Post.
Family members said before the August 29 drone strike Ahmadi and his brother had applications processing for special visas to enter the US because of their work with American companies.
The fatal blast has heightened the surviving family's urgency to leave, according to The Post and Ajmal Ahmadi, another brother, said his family is 'worried' and 'feels under threat because we are so exposed to the public by the media'.
'Everyone got to know that we have worked for foreigners, served in the Afghan army as well as the Afghan intelligence agency,' he added.
The Taliban is known to take a grim view of Afghans with ties to the United States.
The Ahmadis also said the Americans responsible for the tragic mistake - the commander who oversaw the strike, the drone operator or anyone else who had visuals on the ground - need to be taken to court.
Emal said: 'The US government must punish those who launched the drone strike. They knew and saw there were children on the ground. Can anyone bring them back?'
In the wake of a suicide attack that killed 13 US troops at the Kabul airport who cannot be brought back, US officials had intelligence that such a vehicle was involved in planning another attack, Marine Gen Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said at a briefing on Friday afternoon.
A detailed timeline released by the Pentagon on Friday showed that on the morning of August 29, Ahmadi left the compound near the Kabul airport where he lived with his children, two brothers and nieces and nephews.
On his way to work Ahmadi picked up a coworker to carpool before stopping at the home of NEI's director at 8.52am to pick up a laptop.
The director's home had been under intense surveillance by MQ-9 Reaper drones and McKenzie continues to insist that solid intelligence links the home to ISIS-K.
Drone footage showed the fireball from the courtyard, which the Pentagon believed was proof of explosives in the car. They now say that a nearby propane tank was likely ignited by the missile
PICTURED: The 10 victims mistakenly killed by a US drone strike which was targeting ISIS-K in Afghanistan
However, a New York Times reporter visited the NEI director at his home and met with members of his family, who said they had been living there for 40 years.
'We have nothing to do with terrorism or ISIS,' said the director, who also has a US resettlement case. 'We love America. We want to go there.'
Seeing the white Corolla that matched intelligence reports visiting the supposedly suspicious home, US officials latched on to the vehicle and
