Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Occupied Palestine: Five members of the IOF wounded in clashes that took place in Rafah on Wednesday
Israeli media outlet: Netanyahu and Katz are expected to conduct a security assessment soon, and a wave of attacks in Gaza is anticipated later
Israeli media outlet: Gunmen emerged from a tunnel in Rafah and attacked forces in the area with gunfire and anti-tank missiles
Local sources from Damascus countryside: An Israeli occupation drone targeted the road connecting the town of Beit Jinn and Tell Bat al-Warda with 3 airstrikes, without any reported casualties
Al Mayadeen's Beirut Bureau chief: Addition of non-military envoy was agreed upon to pursue non-technical matters.
Al Mayadeen's Beirut Bureau Chief: Lebanese Presidency's statement affirms Lebanon's readiness to attend talks in an effective capacity.
Lebanese Presidency: President has assigned former Ambassador Simon Karam to head military technical committee in talks.
Israeli occupation forces carry out an arrest campaign during a raid on Surif, north of Al-Khalil in the southern occupied West Bank.
Syrian Foreign Ministry: Damascus expresses its gratitude to the countries that voted in the UN General Assembly in favor of ending the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan.
Ushakov: Russia and the United States agreed not to disclose the substance of the Putin–Witkoff talks.

US not to punish troops over deadly Kabul airstrike

  • By Al Mayadeen
  • Source: Agencies
  • 14 Dec 2021 14:17
  • 2 Shares
3 Min Read

After killing innocent civilians in what the Pentagon said was not a violation of the law of war, the United States, once again, acquits itself and its personnel from murder.

  • x
  • Aftermath of US drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 31, 2021 (AFP)
    The aftermath of US drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 31, 2021 (AFP)

The Pentagon said Monday no US troops or officials would face disciplinary action for the August drone strike in Kabul that brutally took the lives of 10 civilians, seven of which were children.

US Department of Defense Spokesperson John Kirby and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had received a high-level review of the strike that made no recommendation of accountability.

"There was not a strong enough case to be made for personal accountability," the former said.

Aimal Ahmadi, 32, who lost his three-year-old daughter, his brother, and six nephews and nieces in the strike, voiced anger at the decision on Tuesday. "God will take revenge," he said.

"What if the US had lost a child? What would the reaction have been?" he heartbreakingly asked.

The Taliban urged Washington to reverse the decision. "The US should punish the culprits and compensate the victims," a spokesman for the group said.

The drone strike, which killed innocent civilians on August 29, took place in the final days of the US-led evacuation of Kabul after the Taliban took over the country.

US officials had claimed they had received intelligence of a possible ISIS-K attack on the evacuation operation at Kabul Airport and launched a missile from a drone at the civilian vehicle, which they had monitored for 8 hours - a sufficient amount of time to determine it was not a car laden with munitions.

"What we saw here was a breakdown in process, in execution and procedural events, not the result of negligence, not the result of misconduct, not the result of poor leadership," said John Kirby.

If Austin "believed... that accountability was warranted, he would certainly support those kinds of efforts," Kirby added.

US state secretary Antony Blinken was questioned by GOP Senator Rand Paul about the drone strike before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and through his answer to one particular question, Blinken admitted that he does not know whether the drone strike killed an ISIS-K operative or an aid worker.

"The guy the Biden administration droned, was he an aid worker or an ISIS-K operative?" asked Senator Paul, addressing Blinken regarding the aforementioned drone strike after asking him about US aid to Afghanistan.

According to Reuters, the US Department of Defense said on November 3 the airstrike was a "tragic mistake" but did not violate the laws of war. 

After an internal investigation into the raid, the Pentagon's Lieutenant General Sami D. Said claimed the investigation did not reveal any violation of the laws of war.

The relatives of the victims whose lives were taken by the drone strike demanded a face-to-face apology and compensation for the losses they endured.

  • United States
  • Lloyd Austin
  • Afghanistan
  • Taliban
  • John Kirby
  • Antony Blinken
  • Joe Biden
  • Kabul

Most Read

13 elite Israeli troops were wounded in a confrontations in Beit Jinn, Syria.

13 elite Israeli troops wounded in confrontations in southern Syria

  • West Asia
  • 28 Nov 2025
Russia and China are not part of the Resistance Front, but they are playing an important role in building structures to bypass US power and thus facilitate a multipolar and freer world. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

The Resistance Front and BRICS

  • Opinion
  • 29 Nov 2025
Four killed, ten wounded in targeted California shooting in Stockton

Four killed, 10 wounded in 'targeted' California shooting

  • US & Canada
  • 30 Nov 2025
Point-blank killings: 'Israel' executes 2 Palestinian youths in Jenin

Graphic footage: IOF execute 2 Palestinians from point blank in Jenin

  • Politics
  • 27 Nov 2025

Coverage

All
In Five

Read Next

All
Security at the al-Afad camp for displaced people in the town of al-Dabba, northern Sudan, on 26 November 2025 (AP)
Politics

Amnesty calls out RSF war crimes as fighting in Sudan spreads

People protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside a court in occupied Jaffa on Monday, December 1, 2025, a day after he asked the country's president for a pardon amid his ongoing corruption trial. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Politics

Netanyahu trial reveals deep failures in Israeli governance: Atlantic

A Russian fighter jet taxi on the tarmac of the Hmeimim Air Base, a Syrian airbase currently operated by Russia, located southeast of the city of Latakia in the town of Hmeimim, Syria, on Monday, Dec.16, 2024 (AP)
Politics

Russian military bases in Syria remain operational: Russia Deputy FM

Israeli soldiers work on tanks at a staging area on the border with Gaza Strip, Occupied Palestine, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Four Israeli soldiers injured, one seriously, in Rafah confrontations

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS