Afghanistan: Survivors of US drone strike that killed only civilians say sorry 'is not enough'
ITV News Reporter Helen Keenan reports on the dreadful aftermath of the strike now branded a 'tragic mistake'
Survivors of a deadly US drone strike in Afghanistan that killed only civilians have said "sorry is not enough" after officials apologised and called it a "tragic mistake".
The drone strike launched in Kabul by the US in August killed 10 members of the same family, including seven children.
In the days following the strike, Pentagon officials insisted that the strike was carried out correctly.
Now an internal review has revealed that no members of ISIS-K - the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate - were killed in the attack, only civilians.
Three-year-old Malika Ahmadi was one of those killed in the attack, she was travelling in the car with her uncle, Zemerai Ahmadi, when the missile hit.
Her father, Emal Ahmadi, told The Associated Press on Saturday that the family demands Washington investigate who fired the drone and punish the military personnel responsible for the strike.
"That is not enough for us to say sorry," said Mr Ahmadi. "The USA should find the person who did this."
Mr Ahmadi said his family is also seeking financial compensation for their losses and demanded that several members of the family be evacuated from Afghanistan.
Zemerai Ahmadi's daughter, Samia, rushed to her father's side after the blast.
"I saw my father lying in the car, there was shrapnel in his chest, throat, everywhere" she said.
Media reports have suggested Zemerai Ahmadi was a longtime employee at a US humanitarian organisation and said there was an absence of evidence to support the Pentagon’s assertion that his vehicle contained explosives.
On Friday, US Marine General Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, called strike a "tragic mistake". He apologised and said the US is considering making reparation payments.
Gen McKenzie said the decision to strike a white Toyota Corolla sedan, after having tracked it for about eight hours, was made in an "earnest belief" — based on a standard of "reasonable certainty" — that it posed an imminent threat to American forces at the Kabul airport.
The car was believed to have been carrying explosives in its trunk, he said.
The drone strike followed a devastating suicide bombing by the Islamic State group that killed 169 Afghans and 13 US military personnel at one of the gates to the Kabul airport.
Mr Ahmadi said he was frustrated that it took weeks of pleading with Washington to at least make a call to the family.
Even as evidence mounted to the contrary, Pentagon officials asserted that the strike had been conducted correctly.
Mr Ahmadi told The Associated Press he wanted more than an apology form the US, he wanted justice, including an investigation into who carried out the strike "and I want him punished by the USA."
"Now I am the one who is responsible for all my family and I am jobless," Mr Ahmadi said after his brothers death.
He wondered how the his family's home could have been mistaken for an Islamic State hideout.
"The USA can see from everywhere," he said of the country's drone capabilities.
"They can see that there were innocent children near the car and in the car. Whoever did this should be punished."
"It isn't right," he added.