Ten members of one families, including seven children, were killed in a U.S. drone strike on a car in a residential area of Kabul, relatives of the victims told the Washington Post.
The U.S. launched a defensive airstrike in Kabul against a suspected ISIS-K suicide bomber , which posed an «imminent» threat to the airport, US Central Command said Sunday.
According to the brother of one of the victims, the youngest victim was a two-year-old girl. He called the dead «an ordinary family.»
«We are not from ISIS <…>, and it was just a family home where my brothers lived with their families.»
Neighbors and witnesses at the site of the drone strike in Kabul also told CNN about several people killed, including children.
“All the neighbors tried to help and brought water to put out the fire, and I saw that five or six people died,” a neighbor told CNN.
“The father of the family, another boy and two children. They were dead. <…> [Another] two were injured.»
Another neighbor told CNN that he estimated that up to 20 people could have died and «little remains of the house.»
The target of a U.S. drone strike in #Kabul was supposed to be #ISIS-K suicide bombers. Assuming it is the same strike, what we found were 10 dead civilians, including 7 children. Our latest from #Afghanistan https://t.co/BxSHCpqqqr pic.twitter.com/qRpZq6LG4i
— Marcus Yam 文火 (@yamphoto) August 30, 2021
A US official told CNN that the vehicle that was targeted by the US during Sunday's airstrikes on Kabul was near a building with one suicide bomber inside.
Later on Sunday, the military confirmed that they received reports of civilian casualties.
“We know that the destruction of the vehicle resulted in significant and powerful explosions, <…> which could lead to additional casualties. It is unclear what may have happened and we are investigating further,” said US Central Command spokesman Capt. Bill Urban.
“We would be deeply saddened by the potential loss of innocent lives.”
