Afghanistan evacuation: Pentagon says no US troops to face punishment for drone strike

In the last days of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, a drone strike was carried out targeting members of the Islamic State militant group. The Pentagon announced this week that the US troops involved in carrying out the drone strike would not be facing disciplinary action.

AFP reports that the Pentagon said Monday that no US troops will be facing punishment from the drone strike that was carried out in August. The drone strike, targeting Islamic State members, was revealed to have killed 10 Afghan civilians, seven of which were children. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin received a high-level review that made no recommendation for disciplinary action against the soldiers involved.

“What we saw here was a breakdown in process, in execution and procedural events, not the result of negligence, not the result of misconduct, not the result of poor leadership,” said Kirby, who added that if Austin believed that accountability must be taken, “he would certainly support those efforts.”

The decision was criticized by Aimal Ahmadi, who lost his daughter, brother, and six nephews and nieces during the drone strike. The Taliban has since urged Washington to overturn the decision, saying that the US should take action against the soldiers responsible while also offering compensation to the victims.

At the time, US officials received intelligence of a potential attack by the Islamic State on the ongoing evacuation efforts at Kabul airport. In response, a missile was launched from a drone targeting a car suspected to contain ammunition. It was later revealed that an Afghan man who was a US aid worker was killed in the strike. An initial report by US Air Force Inspector General Lt. General Sami Said described the strike tragic and an “honest mistake.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations condemned Tuesday the allegations of over 100 extrajudicial killings made in Afghanistan since the insurgent group took control in August. 72 of the alleged killings were done by members of the Taliban themselves.

UN deputy rights chief Nada Al-Nashif said that she was “deeply alarmed” by the ongoing reports of such killings, despite the insurgent group pledging amnesty on Afghans who have previously worked for the western-backed government or for the western forces that were present in the country.