WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon offered unspecified condolence payments this week to the family of the 10 civilians, including seven children, who the military has acknowledged were mistakenly killed Aug. 29 in the last American drone strike before U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan.
In a statement released late Friday, the Pentagon also said it was working with the State Department to help surviving members of the family relocate to the United States.
The offers were made in a virtual meeting Thursday between Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, and Steven Kwon, founder and president of Nutrition & Education International, the aid organization that employed Zemari Ahmadi, the driver of a white Toyota sedan that was struck by the American drone.
Senior Defense Department officials and military commanders conceded last month that Ahmadi had nothing to do with the Islamic State, contrary to what military officials had previously asserted. Ahmadi's only connection to the terrorist group appeared to be a fleeting and innocuous interaction with people in what the military believed was an Islamic State safe house in Kabul, an initial link that led military analysts to make one misjudgment after another while tracking Ahmadi's movements in the sedan for the next eight hours.
"Dr. Kahl noted that the strike was a tragic mistake and that Mr. Zemari Ahmadi and others who were killed were innocent victims who bore no blame and were not affiliated with ISIS-K or threats to U.S. forces," said the statement from John Kirby, the Defense Department's chief spokesperson.
Kirby said Kwon had recounted Ahmadi's work with the aid group over many years as an electrical engineer, "providing care and lifesaving assistance for people facing high mortality rates in Afghanistan."
The Pentagon statement came after Ahmadi's family members in Kabul complained that U.S. officials had not contacted them about relocating to the United States or offering condolence payments.
Pentagon officials said Friday that no specific amount for condolence payments was discussed in Thursday's meeting, but that it would be in future discussions between the department and the aid organization and its lawyers, who are acting on behalf of the family in Afghanistan.
Condolence payments for deaths caused by the U.S. military have varied widely in recent years. In fiscal 2019, for instance, the Pentagon offered 71 such payments -- ranging from $131 to $35,000 -- in Afghanistan and Iraq.