10 civilians killed during US airstrike in Afghanistan on August 29: UN official

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Monday confirmed that a US airstrike on alleged terrorists of the IS in Khorasan (an Islamic State branch, banned in Russia) on August 29 killed ten civilians in Afghanistan.

Speaking at the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Bachelet recalled that on August 26, at least 142 civilians, 13 American soldiers and 28 Taliban (banned in Russia) fighters were killed as a result of the terrorist attack near the Kabul airport. "Three days later, a U.S. drone strike, claiming to target IS-K members, killed ten civilians," the UN high commissioner noted.

Bachelet also mentioned that she was concerned by the reports of civilian casualties and human rights violations resulting from clashes between Taliban and resistance forces in the Afghan Panjshir valley.

US airstrike in Kabul

According to the US Armed Forces, on August 29, an American drone struck a car with explosives in Kabul, using which the IS-K militants plotted a terrorist attack. The strike destroyed two vehicles and partially damaged a residential building.

Meanwhile, as UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Kabul, Herve de Lys said, seven children were killed during the attack by the US forces.

The Pentagon first stated that it had no data regarding the deaths of civilians, then it said that it would check this information. The American defense department has not provided any results of the investigation yet. Meanwhile, Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby claimed in early September that the car destroyed by the drone attack certainly contained IS terrorists plotting a terrorist attack at the airport.

New York Times investigation

On September 10, the New York Times reported that the US military may have made a mistake in targeting suspected Islamic State Khorasan terrorists in Kabul with a drone strike. The publication indicated that the driver of the vehicle hit by the US forces, 43-year-old Zemari Ahmadi, had worked as an engineer since 2006 in California. The New York Times' sources strongly denied his connection with terrorists since Ahmadi had a good attitude towards the US and hoped to get asylum there.

According to The New York Times, the explosion, killed ten people, including the driver and seven children. The publication's sources drew attention to the fact that after the drone strike, there was no explosion, which was previously reported in the Pentagon. This is likely to indicate that there were no explosives in the trunk of the car.