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Deadly U.S. strike in Kabul missed evidence of child present
An August U.S. drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians was not caused by criminal negligence but by a series of errors, including not noticing a child minutes before the strike took place, an investigation by a military inspector general found on Wednesday.
The Aug. 29 strike killed 10 civilians, including seven children, in an incident the military previously called a “tragic mistake.”
Initially, the Pentagon had said the strike targeted an ISIS (Daesh) suicide bomber who posed an imminent threat to U.S.-led troops at the airport as they completed the last stages of their withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The strike came days after a Daesh suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. troops and scores of Afghan civilians who had crowded outside the airport gates, desperate to secure seats on evacuation flights, after U.S.-trained Afghan forces melted away and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan swept to power in the capital.
An investigation by the Air Force inspector general said the strike was caused by execution errors, interpreting information that supported certain viewpoints, and communication breakdowns, Reuters reported.
“It’s a regrettable mistake. It’s an honest mistake,” Lieutenant General Sami Said, the Air Force inspector general, told reporters.
According to Said, when he reviewed data and video footage, he found evidence of one child nearby about two minutes before the trigger was pulled on the drone strike.
But he added he noticed the presence of the child as he looked at the video well after the incident and that it would have been easy to miss at the time, Reuters reported.
Said did not recommend disciplinary action but said it would be up to commanders to make a decision on what, if any, accountability action should be taken.
Steven Kwon, co-founder and president of Nutrition and Education International, which employed one of the victims, said the investigation was “deeply disappointing and inadequate.”
“According to the Inspector General, there was a mistake but no one acted wrongly, and I’m left wondering, how can that be?” Kwon said in a statement.
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Traffic accident in Badakhshan leaves 12 dead, 3 injured
Ehsanullah Kamgar, spokesperson for the Badakhshan Provincial Police Command, said that 12 people were killed and three others were seriously injured in a traffic accident in Arghanjkhwah district of the province.
Kamgar added that the incident occurred at noon on Saturday in the Samdar area of Arghanjkhwah district.
According to him, the victims include men, women and children.
He explained that the incident happened when a Flancoach -type vehicle veered off the road due to poor road conditions and plunged into a ravine.
The injured were transferred to health centers for treatment, and the condition of some of them has been reported as critical.
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Afghanistan to grant one- to ten-year residency to foreign investors
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has approved a plan to grant foreign investors residency permits ranging from one to ten years in exchange for investment in the country.
The decision was endorsed during a regular meeting of the Economic Commission, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
According to a statement from the deputy PM’s office, a designated committee has been tasked with determining the length of residency based on the volume of investment, which will be categorized under specific criteria.
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Traffic police receive new cars
The Ministry of Interior has announced the delivery of several new, modern cars to the General Directorate of Traffic Police, replacing the older fleet that consisted mostly of trucks.
According to a ministry statement, the new vehicles, equipped with special traffic police colors, markings, and modern equipment, are expected to play a key role in maintaining traffic order in cities and on main roads, preventing accidents, and providing faster services to the public.
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