“The strike was a tragic mistake,” Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, told a Pentagon news conference Friday. McKenzie apologized for the error and said the United States is considering making reparation payments to the family of the victims. For days after the August 29 strike, Pentagon officials asserted that it had been conducted correctly, despite 10 civilians being killed, including seven children. The evacuation, which began August 14, unfolded under a near-constant threat of attack by the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate. “I am now convinced that as many as 10 civilians, including up to seven children, were tragically killed in that strike,” McKenzie said.
