The Defense Department said surveillance videos indicated the presence of at least one child in the area two minutes before the military executed a drone attack on a facility in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August.
However, the general in charge of the inquiry into the US airstrikes, which the military has admitted killed ten civilians, including seven children, claimed the presence of a kid in the clip would have been simple to miss in real time.
Footage shows a child near the area before the deadly US airstrike
Lt. Gen. Sami D. Said, the Air Force's inspector general, found no infractions of the law and did not propose any disciplinary action. The general blamed "confirmation bias" for the August 29 strike, blaming a sequence of assumptions made over the course of eight hours while US authorities tracked a white Toyota Corolla across Kabul.
General Said agreed that the military had video footage of a child at the launch site two minutes before the launch, but he questioned whether anyone who wasn't seeking proof of a child would have noticed it.
The military makes every effort to keep civilians out of harm's way. The presence of a kid in a striking zone would likely have triggered a second look at whether a complete evaluation of the target was necessary, NY Times reported.
General Said argued that the strike must be seen in the context of the current situation, with American officials on high alert following a suicide bombing at Kabul airport three days prior that killed over 170 civilians and 13 US personnel.
Pentagon probe found no negligence in Kabul airstrike
Per BBC, IS was plotting a second strike on evacuation efforts, according to US military intelligence. However, according to Lt Gen Said, the US had mistakenly traced the wrong vehicle.
The drone strike team mistook the residence for unoccupied, failing to see a child approaching the target area two minutes before the missile was launched. Because the earlier airport bomber was thought to have carried explosives in a computer bag, when operators preparing the assault spotted persons they were observing holding a computer bag, they assumed they had the appropriate target, an example of "confirmation bias."
Following a preliminary inquiry, the Pentagon stated in September that the strike was a "tragic mistake" and promised to pay survivors' families.
The Air Force's inspector general found no legal violations, carelessness, or dereliction of duty in the Kabul attack that killed ten Afghan civilians. However, the review has been sent up the chain of command to see whether any disciplinary action is necessary.
The strike was "an honest mistake," according to Air Force Inspector General Lieutenant General Sami Said, who oversaw the probe at Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's request.
In a statement, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said he is "unconvinced" that the summary of the investigation "provides for real accountability," CBS News reported. The report itself is classified, but Said outlined the recommendations his review made so that this targeting error doesn't happen again in a briefing with reporters on Wednesday.
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