According to the “New York Times”, the latest American strike in Kabul targeted a civilian, not a jihadist

Did the US military make a mistake before leaving Afghanistan? the New York Times published, Friday September 9th, an investigation contesting the official version about its latest strike in Kabul, indicating that it may have killed not a jihadist with the car loaded with explosives, but an NGO employee carrying cans of water.

The United States destroyed on August 29, in a drone airstrike, a vehicle “Loaded with explosives”, said the army, which had claimed to have thus foiled an attempted attack by the Islamic State group.

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In the aftermath of the strike, the family of the driver of the vehicle, Ezmarai Ahmadi, told Agence France-Presse that ten people, most of them children, had been killed.

According to New York Times, the driver of the vehicle was not a jihadist. Ezmarai Ahmadi, 43, was an electrical engineer. He had been working since 2006 for Nutrition and Education International, a humanitarian association based in California. His family, cited by the New York Times, claims he made a request for evacuation to the United States.

According to the daily’s investigation, which is based on images from surveillance cameras and interviews, the movements of Ezmarai Ahmadi, considered suspicious by the US military on the day of the strike, corresponded to an ordinary working day. This August 29, “The man allegedly drove colleagues to work and then brought them home.”

Water cans, not explosives

The daily also indicates, according to surveillance camera videos, that the trunk of the car was certainly filled with cans of water that the man was bringing home.

Based on interviews with experts, the newspaper also disputes the official version according to which the strike would have caused the secondary detonation of explosives stored in the trunk of the vehicle. The investigation of New York Times confirms that ten civilians, including seven children, were killed, while the death toll established to date by the US military is three civilians.

Asked about the revelations of New York Times, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the investigation was continuing. “No army in the world is so attached [que celle des Etats-Unis] to avoid civilian casualties ”, he assured before specifying that “The strike was based on good intelligence, and we continue to believe that it prevented an imminent threat to the airport”.

The US attack came days after an Islamic State suicide bomber unleashed a massive explosion at the entrance to Kabul airport, killing nearly 100 Afghans as well as 13 US service personnel. . The US military left Afghanistan on August 30 after twenty years of war.

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The World with AFP

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