Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has selected the investigator who will examine the botched airstrike that targeted an Afghan aid worker.
Lt. Gen. Sami Said, the Department of the Air Force inspector general, will “investigate the facts and circumstances relating to the civilian casualty event,” a spokesperson for the Air Force said in a statement.
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Said will report directly to the secretary, per the spokesperson, and has 45 days from the appointment to submit his findings.
The U.S. military launched a drone strike on Aug. 29 based on faulty intelligence, resulting in the deaths of 10 civilians, including seven children, the Pentagon announced last week, acknowledging that its target was not, in fact, associated with the ISIS-K terror group, nor did he pose a threat to the U.S. mission.
“Part of that review will be to examine the investigation itself, the thoroughness of the investigation, to study the degree to which any policies, procedures, or targeting mechanisms may need to be altered going forward, if any, and of course to then take a look at what levels of accountability might be appropriate, and if so, at what level,” said spokesman John Kirby at Monday’s Pentagon briefing.
Kirby left the door open to consequences for four-star generals involved in the strike.
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“If the reviewing officer believes that there should be a level of accountability at someone at a higher rank than he or she, the reviewing officer needs to make a note of that to the secretary of the Air Force and to the secretary of defense,” he said.
The United States is working to contact the family of Zemari Ahmadi, the target of the strike, for reparations and to determine whether they want to move to the U.S. Kirby said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would “absolutely support” relocation to the U.S. if that’s what the family wants.
