Nearly two years after the US military killed 10 members of an Afghan family, including seven children, in a drone strike, the US government has yet to make good on a promise to compensate the survivors, The Intercept reports.
The strike, which took place on August 29, 2021, targeted Zemari Ahmadi, an electrical engineer working for a US-based nongovernmental organisation. Ahmadi was driving his white Toyota Corolla home from work when he was struck by a Hellfire missile fired from an American drone.
The US military initially claimed that Ahmadi was an ISIS-K militant, but later admitted that he was an innocent civilian. The strike was widely condemned as a “horrible mistake.”
The U.S. government has offered to pay $35,000 to each of the surviving family members, but the Ahmadis have rejected the offer, saying that it is not enough to compensate them for their losses.
The Ahmadis are now living in California, where they are struggling to make ends meet. They have no money, no job, and no place to live. They are also struggling to cope with the trauma of losing so many loved ones.
“We have lost everything,” said Romal Ahmadi, Zemari’s brother. “We have no money, no home, no jobs. We are living in a new country and we don’t speak the language. We are just trying to survive.”
