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US Offers Condolence Payments To Family Of Victims Killed In Botched Drone Strike

(Photo by Hoshang Hashimi / AFP) (Photo by HOSHANG HASHIMI/AFP via Getty Images)

Mitch Picasso Contributor
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The Pentagon offered on Thursday a number of condolence payments to the relatives of Zamarai Ahmadi, an aid worker and one of 10 civilians killed during a botched drone strike in Afghanistan.

In addition to an unspecified number of payments to the relatives of Ahmadi, the Department of Defense will work alongside the State Department to offer relocation services for any family members interested in coming to the U.S., according to Reuters.

The Pentagon made the offer Thursday between Colin Kahl, the under-secretary of defense for policy, and Steven Kwon, the founder and president of an aid group active in Afghanistan called Nutrition and Education International, BBC reported.

In an attempt to target a car believed to have belonged to an ISIS-K member, the Aug. 29 drone strike actually killed Ahmadi and his 10 family members, 7 of whom were children. (RELATED: Report: Mosque Explosion Kills Dozens In Afghanistan)

The strike was carried out in response to an ISIS-K suicide bomber at the Kabul airport that resulted in the death of 13 military members and 170 Afghans.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley had told the Armed Services Committee that he knew within hours the drone strike killed Afghan civilians. However, the U.S. Central Command had claimed in an Aug. 29 press conference that the drone strike took out an ISIS-K threat with no casualties. Milley even called the strike “righteous”.

General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Commander of U.S. Central Command, announced in a press conference on Sept. 17 that the drone strike had in fact killed “10 civilians including up to seven children,” a full 19 days after calling the strike a success.

“We now assess that it is unlikely that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K or were a direct threat to U.S. forces. I offer my profound condolences to the family and friends of those who were killed. This strike was taken in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our forces and the evacuees at the airport,” McKenzie said.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said no agreement has yet been reached, according to CNN.