The Pentagon has just released a previously classified video of a United States drone strike that resulted in 10 innocent civilians being killed. The strike came less than 24 hours after suicide bombers of ISIS-K detonated bombs that were strapped to themselves, resulting in 13 U.S. troops and over 160 Afghans being killed.
The video footage is about 25 minutes in length and depicts two Reaper drones navigating the area of the scene where the airstrike occurred. When the strike first occurred, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley declared this strike as a “righteous kill”. Milly went on to claim that the airstrike itself didn’t kill any civilians, but rather a secondary explosion killed civilians due to explosives being in the vehicle that was targeted.
The New York Times, however, refuted Milley’s claims and did some investigative journalism on the ground in Kabul. The investigation revealed that the alleged ISIS-K Member who the Pentagon killed was no ISIS-K member at all, but rather a worker for a California NGO called Nutrition Education International.
Here is a clip of the declassified videos:
The airstrike that you saw in the video killed a total of 10 civilians and, unfortunately, 7 of the 10 were children. Most of the world witnessed the United States withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, which was a complete disaster. The airport was completely un-secure and US troops were basically cornered from all directions.
After a suicide blast killed 13 U.S. troops and close to 200 Afghans, it appears the Biden admin and Pentagon panicked. To make it appear that the United States had everything under control, the Department of Defense launched a reckless airstrike which was hailed by the Pentagon and Biden as a success, however, it was far from that.
The Pentagon and Biden admin kept the details about the airstrike from the public, but a New York Times Journalist on the ground in Afghanistan visited the place where the attack occurred. They found that no ISIS-K member was struck at all, but rather innocent civilians.
According to the New York Times exclusive report, NGO worker Zemari Ahmadi was targeted by the US military because he was “suspiciously” loading large containers inside of his Toyota Corolla. Ahmadi was a technical engineer for a California-based NGO that feeds impoverished families, and after work he would frequently use his company’s headquarters to fill up containers of water for his neighborhood which lacked water supply.
Here’s what the New York Post reported about the botched airstrike:
Footage from his workplace shows Ahmadi, whose neighborhood had unreliable water service, filling containers with water at his employer’s office at 2:35 p.m. shortly before he returned home. Fire-damaged containers consistent with the water canisters were photographed by the Times.
He and colleagues, who had driven to work, also were carrying laptop computers that day, according to security footage, possibly explaining the military’s claim that the targeted Toyota Corolla contained carefully wrapped packages.
The Times disputed the Pentagon’s claim that secondary explosions demonstrated that explosive materials were ignited by the US Reaper drone’s Hellfire missile.
Three weapons experts told the Times there was no evidence of a secondary explosion because there were no blown out walls or destroyed vegetation near the burned-out car. A small crater under car was consistent with a Hellfire missile, the experts said.
Before leaving Afghanistan, the US struck a vehicle in Kabul, claiming it was loaded with bombs.
It turned out that the vehicle belonged to the charity worker Zemari Ahmadi, who carried water to his family. pic.twitter.com/7cJuHqQUb5
— Crackdown Chronicles (@CrackdownReport) September 11, 2021
Just imagine, if the New York Times wasn’t there to investigate the matter, we still wouldn’t know about the botched airstrike to this day.
This story syndicated with permission from For the Love of News