In a statement, US Secretary Of defense Lloyd Austin Apologized to the families of those murdered.

Pic Courtesy DUNYA NEWS

(AFP) - WASHINGTON (AFP) - A senior general acknowledged the US committed a "error" last month when it conducted a drone attack against suspected Islamic State members in Kabul, killing ten people, including children.


The assault, a grisly conclusion to the United States' two-decade-long war in Afghanistan, was intended to target an IS activity that US officials had "reasonable confidence" was targeting Kabul's airport, according to US Central Command commander General Kenneth McKenzie.


McKenzie told journalists after an inquiry, "The hit was a terrible error."


In a statement, US Secretary Of defense Lloyd Austin apologised to the families of those murdered.


"I extend my heartfelt sympathies to the survivors of those murdered," Austin stated in a statement.


"We apologise and will make every effort to learn from this heinous error," he added.


McKenzie said that the government was examining ways to compensate the relatives of those murdered.


- Toyota Corolla in white -


The general said that on August 29, US troops followed a white Toyota for 8 hours after spotting it at a place in Kabul identified by intelligence as a place from where Islamic State agents were thought to be planning strikes on Kabul's airport.


US troops were on the lookout for a white Toyota Corolla which that gang was reportedly driving, he added.


"We chose this vehicle based on its travel through a known target region," McKenzie said.


"Clearly, our knowledge on this specific white Toyota was incorrect," he said.


According to McKenzie, the drone attack killed ten individuals, including seven children, none of whom were subsequently connected to IS.


McKenzie justified the US action as a "self-defense strike" in response to fears of an assault on the airport during the chaotic evacuation's last days.


On August 26, a suicide bomber from Islamic State-Khorasan murdered many at the airport, including 13 US military personnel. Massive masses pressed in, desperate to catch one of the last evacuation planes out of the nation.


"We were dealing with about 60 distinct threat vectors at the time," McKenzie said.


Officials in the United States thought the vehicle was rigged with explosives. According to the New York Times, it was stocked with water canisters.


McKenzie said that there had been no sightings of people in the vicinity at the time the attack was approved.


- Completely non-toxic -


Among those murdered was an Afghan man named Ezmarai Ahmadi, who worked for a US-based assistance organisation.


"We now realize that Mr. Ahmadi had no link to ISIS-Khorasan," Austin said.


He said that Ahmadi's actions that day were "absolutely innocuous," and that he was "every bit as innocently a victim as the others tragically murdered."


According to Ahmadi's brother Aimal, the vehicle was packed with youngsters who pretended that the parked routine was an event.


"The missile arrived and slammed into the vehicle packed with children inside our home," he said.


"It annihilated them all."


"My brother and four of his children were assassinated. I just lost my little daughter... I also have nephews and nieces "he said dejectedly.


AFP was also unable to verify Aimal's storey independently.


"On behalf of the Department of Defense's men and women, I extend my heartfelt sympathies to the surviving family members of those murdered, including Mr. Ahmadi, and to the employees of Nutritional and Learning International, Mr. Ahmadi's employer," Austin stated.


According to a Brown University study published in April, over 71,000 Afghan & Pakistani civilians died directly as a result of the US-led war launched in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, with deaths increasing dramatically after then-President Donald Trump laid back rules of engagement in 2017.