WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has declassified and publicly launched video footage of a U.S. drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians within the ultimate hours of a chaotic American withdrawal that ended a 20-year struggle in Afghanistan.
The New York Occasions obtained the footage by a Freedom of Data Act lawsuit in opposition to U.S. Central Command, which then posted the imagery to its web site. It marks the primary public launch of video footage of the Aug. 29 strike, which the Pentagon initially defended however later referred to as a tragic mistake.
The movies embrace about 25 minutes of footage from what the Occasions reported have been two MQ-9 Reaper drones, exhibiting the scene of the strike previous to, throughout and after a missile struck a civilian automotive in a courtyard on a residential road. Vague photos present people transferring in or close to the assault zone.
The navy has mentioned it struck what it thought was an extremist with the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate who may imminently detonate a bomb close to the Kabul airport, the place a hurried evacuation was nonetheless below manner. Three days earlier a suicide bombing on the airport had killed 13 U.S. troops and greater than 160 Afghans. When it later acknowledged its error within the Aug. 29 drone strike, Central Command mentioned it decided that the person driving the automotive had nothing to do with the IS group.
The person was Zemari Ahmadi, who labored for Vitamin and Training Worldwide, a U.S.-based help group.