At least six children were among several civilians killed in Kabul in a US missile attack on Sunday, August 29. The civilians were killed when a US drone fired a Hellfire missile at a car that the US claims was parked in a residential area and was being loaded with explosives to attack the Kabul airport.
An unnamed US official quoted by AP claimed that the attack targeted two Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) terrorists. They reportedly were killed in the attack.
CNN reported that at least nine people, including the six children, were killed in the attack, with the youngest victim being a two-year-old girl. The report quoted eyewitnesses who said that the US drone strike struck two cars parked in a residential building.
The killing of the civilians in Sunday’s attack has invited widespread condemnation from people in Afghanistan and outside. Reacting to the news of the killing, Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission chairperson Shaharzad Akbar tweeted that people responsible for the killing of Afghan children should be held accountable.
Everyone is killing Afghan civilians and NO ONE is being held accountable. US needs to reflect deeply on its role in Afghanistan, credible reports of civilian harm caused by the international troops, and deliver on accountability & reparations. https://t.co/tMfpFp9jvK
— Shaharzad Akbar (@ShaharzadAkbar) August 30, 2021
In a statement issued later, Centcom claimed that it is investigating the incident and the allegations of civilian casualties and regrets “any potential loss of innocent lives,” Al-Jazeera reported. It also claimed that the death of civilians might have been caused by secondary explosions resulting from the explosives in the car. However, civilians were quoted by CNN saying they heard only one explosion.
Meanwhile, several rockets were fired at the Kabul international airport early morning on Monday. There is no immediate report about the damage or casualties in the attacks. No one has taken responsibility for the attacks as yet.
Sunday’s attack was the second carried out by the US after Thursday’s attack on the Kabul airport. On Saturday, an alleged terrorist was killed in a US airstrike in Nangarhar province.
US president Joe Biden vowed to go behind the culprits of Thursday’s Kabul airport blasts which killed more than 175 people, including 13 US servicemen and 28 Taliban fighters. ISKP or ISIS-K, an affiliate of ISIS in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack.
Abdulhaq Wasiq, a member of the Taliban’s political office, said on Sunday that the US has no right to carry out attacks in Afghanistan. Such attacks are against the deal signed between the US and the Taliban in Doha.
The US is about to wind up its evacuation from Afghanistan as the August 31 deadline approaches. The US will withdraw all troops along with the staff who worked with its mission in Afghanistan.
