Relatives of Afghans killed in US strike want apology, compensation

KABUL • Relatives of the victims of a US strike that killed 10 members of an Afghan family in a "tragic mistake" have demanded a face-to-face apology and compensation.

Mr Ezmarai Ahmadi was wrongly identified as an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant by US intelligence, which tracked his white Toyota for eight hours on Aug 29, before targeting the car with a missile, killing seven children and three adults.

A top US general admitted the drone attack was an error, and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin apologised to the families of those killed.

But Mr Ahmadi's 22-year-old nephew, Mr Farshad Haidari, said that was not enough. "They must come here and apologise to us face-to-face," he told Agence France-Presse in a bombed-out house in Kwaja Burga, a densely populated neighbourhood in the north-west of the Afghan capital.

Mr Haidari, whose brother Naser and young cousins also died, said the US had made no direct contact with the family. "They must come and compensate," he said. "They were not terrorists, and now it is clear for them and all the world to see," he said of his relatives.

Mr Haidari said he wanted officials to "capture and prosecute" those responsible for firing the missile. "Most of them had worked with Americans," Mr Haidari said. "Naser had worked with Americans for about 10 years. My uncle had also worked with international organisations."

At the time of his death, Mr Ahmadi was working for a US aid group. Mr Haidari said all the victims had received evacuation papers and had hoped to go to the United States soon, like many Afghans eager to flee newly Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

On the night of the strike, Mr Ahmadi pulled his car into his driveway before youngsters piled into the vehicle - pretending the parking routine was an adventure - while he watched from the side.

A missile then came screeching down onto the car, obliterating the lives of 10 people in an instant.

The wreckage of the vehicle was in the courtyard of the house last Saturday, alongside another razed vehicle. Broken glass was strewn across the ground and the tiny sandals of the young victims had been placed on the mangled chassis.

US Central Command commander General Kenneth McKenzie said American intelligence had seen the vehicle at a site in Kabul that had been identified as a location from which ISIS operatives were believed to be preparing attacks on the Kabul airport.

Three days earlier, an ISIS-Khorasan suicide bomber had killed scores at the airport, including 13 US service members.

"We selected this car based on its movement at a known target area of interest to us," Gen McKenzie said. "Clearly our intelligence was wrong on this particular white Toyota," he said.

Defence Secretary Austin said Mr Ahmadi's activities that day were "completely harmless", and that the man was "just as innocent a victim as were the others tragically killed".

"We now know that there was no connection between Mr Ahmadi and ISIS-Khorasan," said Mr Austin.

Mr Ahmadi's brother Aimal, whose three-year-old daughter Maleka died in the attack, said "America must compensate".

"Today it was good news for us that the United States officially admitted that they had attacked innocent civilians," he said. "Our innocence has been proven."

"We demand justice from international institutions... Then we want compensation."

Gen McKenzie said the US government was studying how payments for damages could be made to the families of those killed.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE