CENTCOM Releases Name of Person Killed in August 27 Drone Strike in Nangahar

CENTCOM claimed the person was an 'ISIS-K' facilitator, but the military has little credibility after the Kabul drone strike that killed 10 civilians

US Central Command released the name of a person it claims was an “ISIS-K facilitator” who was killed by a US drone strike in Nangahar, Afghanistan, on August 27th.

US military claims about drone strikes against ISIS-K have little credibility after the August 29th strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians, including seven children. CENTCOM initially claimed the Kabul strike killed an ISIS-K member, but due to media scrutiny, the Pentagon was forced to admit the bombing targeted the vehicle of an aid worker and only killed civilians.

CENTCOM said the person killed in the August 27th Nangahar strike was named Kabir Aidi, who it claims was “directly connected to the ISIS-K leaders that coordinated” the August 26th suicide attack at the Kabul airport.

The fact that CENTCOM did not release the name until almost a month after the strike indicates that the US did not know who it was targeting in Nangahar. CENTCOM said it reached this conclusion after “post-strike reflections,” which doesn’t sound like definitive proof.

US media has portrayed the tragic Kabul drone strike as a mistake, but the slaughter of civilians is typical of US drone strikes. In 2015, documents leaked by whistleblower Daniel Hale revealed that during a five-month period between 2012 and 2013, 90 percent of the people killed by US drones were civilians. Hale was recently sentenced to 45 months in prison for leaking the documents.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.