In the recent US drone strike, nine members of one family, including six children were killed.\u00a0 US Navy Captain Bill Urban, a military spokesperson, said the strike was carried out in \u201cself-defense\u201d and that the military was investigating whether there were civilian casualties but that \u201cwe have no indications at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
CNN reported citing relatives and a local journalist that nine members of one family, including six children, were killed in the strike targeting a vehicle in a residential neighborhood of Kabul. The youngest child was a two-year-old girl, the brother of one of the dead told a local journalist working with CNN.<\/p>\n
CCN was told by Ahad, a neighbor who said, “All the neighbors tried to help and brought water to put out the fire and I saw that there were five or six people dead. The father of the family and another young boy and there were two children. They were dead. They were in pieces. There were (also) two wounded.”<\/p>\n
According to officials, a US drone strike blew up a vehicle carrying \u201cmultiple suicide bombers\u201d from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate on Sunday before they could attack the ongoing military evacuation at Kabul’s international airport. The strike was the second carried out by US forces in Afghanistan since an Islamic State suicide bomber struck the airport on Thursday, killing 13 US troops and scores of Afghan civilians trying to flee the country.<\/p>\n
Two US military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, called the airstrike successful and said the vehicle carried multiple bombers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are confident we successfully hit the target. Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material,\u201d US Navy Captain Bill Urban said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the US state department said in a statement signed by around 100 countries, as well as Nato and the European Union, that they received \u201cassurances\u201d from the Taliban that people with travel documents would still be able to leave the country. The Taliban have said they will allow normal travel after the US withdrawal is completed on Tuesday and they assume control of the airport.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, tens of thousands of Afghans are striving to escape from Afghanistan since the Taliban’s swift takeover earlier this month, fearing reprisals and a return to the harsh form of Islamic rule the group imposed by the group from 1996 to 2001.<\/p>\n
The Taliban have pledged amnesty for all Afghans, even those who worked with the US and its allies. But many Afghans are doubtful about the assurances and there have been reports of executions and other human rights abuses in areas under the Taliban.<\/p>\n