Afghan family condemns lack of punishment for fatal drone strike

The family members of the 10 Afghan civilians killed in a botched U.S. drone strike in August said Tuesday they are frustrated and upset that no U.S. service members involved in the mistake will be punished.

Three brothers of Zemerai Ahmadi – a longtime aid worker who was killed along with nine relatives when a hellfire missile struck his car — told The Associated Press that no one from the U.S. government has reached out since the tragedy.

The strike, which killed seven children, took place on Aug. 29 in the final days of the chaotic U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Pentagon initially claimed it had eliminated a potential Islamic State target, but by mid-September admitted that it had made a “tragic mistake.”

Defense officials have since promised financial compensation for the family and help to evacuate them from Afghanistan.

But the three brothers say no such help has materialized.

In addition, the Pentagon on Monday announced that no military personnel involved in the strike will face punishment, which has saddened the family.  

Romal Ahmadi, whose three children aged 2 to 7 years were killed in the episode, said he wants the U.S. service members responsible for the accident to face punishment.

“But America is a superpower,” Romal said, according to the AP. “We are powerless to do anything so we leave it to God to punish them.”

The errant strike came days after an Islamic State group suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. troops and nearly 170 Afghans at a Kabul airport gate as U.S. forces were franticly trying to evacuate vulnerable Afghans and others.

At the time, Ahmadi was driving a white Toyota which U.S. troops believed was an imminent threat to the airport and bombed it.

A Pentagon investigation later revealed breakdowns in how service members identified and confirmed the car as a credible target.

On Monday, press secretary John Kirby said the U.S. is still willing to give financial compensation to the Ahmadis and potentially help them get out of Afghanistan, but is moving slowly to do it safely.

“With respect to an ex-gratia payment, which we are absolutely willing to make, we want to make sure that we do it in the most safe and responsible way so that we know it’s getting to the right people and only to the right people,” Kirby told reporters.

But the Ahmadis told the AP that they are at risk as long as they stay in Kabul and have been getting threats from those that believe the U.S. has already paid them.

“People are always asking us how much money we got,” said Emal Ahmadi, whose 3-year-old daughter Malika was killed in the strike.

Regarding the U.S. promise to evacuate the family, he added: “We are waiting. We have heard nothing. … The longer it takes, the more dangerous it is for us.”