US military officials knew that an August 2021 drone strike in Kabul likely killed Afghan civilians including children but lied about it, a report published Friday revealed. <\/p>\n
New York Times<\/em> investigative reporter Azmat Khan analyzed<\/a> a 66-page redacted US Central Command report<\/a> on the August 29, 2021 drone strike that killed 10 members of the Ahmadi family, including seven children, outside their home in the Afghan capital. The strike took place during the chaotic final days of the US ground war in Afghanistan, just three days after a bombing that killed<\/a> at least 182 people, including 13 American troops, at Kabul's international airport.<\/p>\n Zamarai Ahmadi, a 43-year-old aid worker for California-based nonprofit Nutrition and Education International, was carrying water containers that were mistaken for explosives when his Toyota Corolla was bombed by a Lockheed-Martin Hellfire missile fired from a General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As reports of civilian casualties began circulating hours after the strike, US military officials claimed there were "no indications" that noncombatants were harmed in the attack, while stating that they would investigate whether a secondary explosion may have killed or wounded people nearby.<\/p>\n NEW: A U.S. Central Command investigation into the botched August 2021 drone strike in Kabul reveals how biases and assumptions led to the deadly blunder, and that military analysts saw possible civilian casualties within minutes of the strike:https:\/\/t.co\/iGcmulbyw9<\/a>#FOIA<\/a><\/p>\n — Azmat Khan (@AzmatZahra) January 6, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n