Pentagon Confirms U.S. Drone In Kabul Resulted Civilian Casualties

The Pentagon has announced Sunday that a U.S. military drone strike in Kabul, successfully blew up a van that had “multiple suicide bombers” inside. The department believed them to be affiliated with the Islamic State in Afghanistan (ISIS-K). 

“U.S. military forces conducted a self-defense unmanned over-the-horizon airstrike today on a vehicle in Kabul, eliminating an imminent ISIS-K threat to Hamid Karzai International airport,” Bill Urban, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, announced in a statement. “We are confident we successfully hit the target. Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material.”

Pentagon made a follow-up statement later that day, acknowledging that the strike had caused civilian casualties.

“We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike on a vehicle in Kabul today. We are still assessing the results of this strike, which we know disrupted an imminent ISIS-K threat to the airport,” Urban said in the statement later that day. “We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties.” 

“It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further. We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life,” Urban added.

The strike was conducted as President Joe Biden joined the dignified transfer ceremony of the 13 U.S. service members who were killed last Thursday by a suicide bomber outside the airport gates.

The suicide bombing killed more than 180 people, including 13 U.S. service members.

Article by Dongyoon Shin