WASHINGOTN: A US drone strike in Kabul in August that killed 10 Afghan civilians was a tragic mistake but did not violate any laws, a Pentagon inspector general said Wednesday after an investigation.
Three adults, including a man who worked for a US aid group, and seven children were killed in the August 29 operation, with the target believed to have been a home and a vehicle occupied by Daesh militants.
“The investigation found no violation of law, including the Law of War. Execution errors combined with confirmation bias and communication breakdowns led to regrettable civilian casualties,” Lt. Gen. Sami Said, the inspector general for the US Air Force, said in a report.
“It was an honest mistake,” Said told reporters at the Pentagon.
“But it’s not criminal conduct, random conduct, negligence,” he said.
Said said the people directly involved in the strike, which took place during the US-led evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans after the Taliban seized control of the country, genuinely believed “that they were targeting an imminent strike.”
“The intended target of the strike, the vehicle, its contents and occupant, were genuinely assessed at the time as an imminent threat to US forces and mission at Hamid Karzai International Airport,” the report said.
However, it said, the interpretation of intelligence and the observations of a targeted car and its occupants over eight hours was “regrettably inaccurate,” it said.
“What likely broke down was not the intelligence but the correlation of that intelligence to a specific house,” Said explained.
The US military believed it was targeting IS militants planning an attack on the evacuation operations, three days after a suicide bomb attack at the airport left 13 US service members and scores of Afghans dead.
The car was thought to have contained explosives like those used in the previous attack.
After a preliminary investigation, the Pentagon admitted on September 17 that it had been a “tragic mistake.”
The Pentagon said that the surviving family members would be compensated.
Said said that there was not one point of failure or a person to be blamed for the error. He also said it was not in his responsibilities to decide whether someone should be punished for the error.
US strike that killed 10 Afghan civilians did not violate law of war: Pentagon probe
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US strike that killed 10 Afghan civilians did not violate law of war: Pentagon probe
- "The investigation found no violation of law, including the Law of War," the inspector general for the US Air Force said in a report
- "It was an honest mistake," Lieutenant General Sami Said told reporters at the Pentagon
Indonesia sends 200 cabin crew to support Saudi Vision 2030 aviation goals
- Indonesian pilots and flight attendants have jobs with Saudia, flyadeal and Flynas
- Jakarta’s manpower minister says deployment expected to strengthen Saudi-Indonesian ties
JAKARTA: Indonesian pilots and flight attendants are going to support Saudi Arabia’s aviation goals under Vision 2030, the manpower minister has said, as she sent off more than 220 cabin crew to join the Kingdom’s airlines.
Saudi Arabia has been investing heavily in the aviation sector and in March announced the creation of a new national airline, Riyadh Air, as it moves to compete with regional transport and travel hubs.
Indonesia’s Manpower Minister Ida Fauziya met 224 cabin crew who had secured jobs with Saudia, flyadeal and Flynas during a send-off ceremony in Jakarta on Thursday evening, and said that their deployment is in line with the Kingdom’s efforts to boost the tourism sector.
“You all have an important role in supporting Saudi Arabia’s vision,” she told the participants, as quoted in a statement released by the ministry.
“This will bring a positive contribution in strengthening relations between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.”
Data from the Indonesian embassy’s labor attache in Riyadh shows that 300 cabin crew from the country are already working in Saudi Arabia.
The manpower minister said that demand for Indonesian workers is high as they have an “excellent reputation in the world of international aviation.”
Earlier this month — for the fifth consecutive year — the Southeast Asian nation’s flag carrier Garuda Indonesia received the World’s Best Cabin Crew award from British-based consultancy Skytrax, which runs annual airline and airport rankings.
India to reserve one-third of parliament seats for women
- New law paves the way for higher number of female representatives across the country
- But the legislation is unlikely to be implemented before 2029, says constitutional lawyer
NEW DELHI: Billed as a landmark decision, India’s parliament has passed legislation that guarantees parliamentary seats for women lawmakers, although it is expected to take years before the law comes into force.
The Lok Sabha, or the lower house of India’s parliament, approved the law on Wednesday, and the upper house, or the Rajya Sabha, passed it unanimously on Thursday evening — more than two decades after a parliamentary proposal was submitted to give greater representation to women.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media after the passage of the bill and welcomed it as “a defining moment” in India’s democratic journey.
“With the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Empowerment Reservation Bill) in Parliament, we usher in an era of stronger representation and empowerment for the women of India,” he said. “This is not merely legislation; it is a tribute to the countless women who have made our nation.”
The law reserves a third of seats for women in the lower house of parliament and state assemblies. It does not apply to the upper house of Parliament, as its members are chosen by state legislatures.
However, the new legislation will only come into effect after India conducts a census and then redraws the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies. No date has yet been announced for completing the census that was scheduled to be held in 2021 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The amendment provides that reservation will be implemented after new seats are created by delimitation after a fresh census,” Sanjay Hegde, constitutional lawyer from the Supreme Court, told Arab News on Friday.
“The census could not be done in 2021 due to COVID and may be done in 2025 or later. Compiled data may be available much later, after the census, and based on such data fresh delimitation has to be worked out. If the census is postponed, the entire cycle can be kicked further down the road to take effect in 2029 or 2034 polls or even later.”
The new law was welcomed by several women activists but the absence of a definite timeline made them wonder about the level of commitment to greater female representation in parliament.
“They passed it with the caveat that they can’t be implemented without the census and without the delimitation,” said Maimoon Mollah, president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, the largest women’s organization in India.
“We don’t know when that is going to happen.”
For Kavita Krishnan, a Delhi-based activist, the most disappointing part was that the rule would not apply in next year’s polls.
“In the next election there is not going to be any women reservation,” she said.
“Basically, they are indefinitely postponing this thing.”
Authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir free key Muslim cleric after years of house arrest
- Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was spearheading protests against Indian rule in disputed region
- Farooq was detained ahead of India revoking Kashmir’s special status in 2019
SRINAGAR: Indian authorities released a key Muslim cleric after four years of house arrest and allowed him to lead Friday prayers in Srinagar, the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir, according to mosque authorities.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has been spearheading protests against Indian rule in the disputed region. He was detained ahead of India revoking Kashmir’s special status in 2019 and throwing the Himalayan territory into political uncertainty.
The 2019 decision stripped the region of statehood, its separate constitution and inherited protections on land and jobs.
“Senior police officials visited the residence of Mirwaiz on Thursday to inform him that the authorities have decided to release him from house detention and allow him to go to Jamia Masjid for Friday prayers,” the mosque management committee said in a statement.
Kashmiri separatist leaders, many of them either under house arrest or in police detention, have vowed to continue their struggle and refuse to participate in any dialogue. They want New Delhi to accept Kashmir as a disputed region, release political prisoners, revoke harsh emergency laws and announce a plan for Kashmir’s demilitarization.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan since British colonialists granted them independence in 1947 and both claim the region in its entirety. They have fought two wars over its control.
UK authorities used Gillette razor study to guess age of Afghan child migrant
- 16-year-old was deemed to be 25 based on ‘subjective’ decision-making, judge ruled
- Home Office spokesman: ‘We are strengthening the age verification process’
London: The UK Home Office used a report compiled by a razor manufacturer about how and when young men start shaving to assess the ages of migrants, The Times reported on Friday.
A hearing into the case of a young Afghan asylum-seeker revealed that officials had used the study by Gillette to determine he was 25 years old when he was rescued from a sinking boat in the English Channel in October 2021.
The asylum-seeker, who has not been named, insisted to immigration officials he was below the age of 18.
At an appeal into his right to stay in the UK in July this year, a judge determined he was 16 when he arrived in the UK.
Having assessed the evidence provided, including identification documents from the young Afghan, the judge criticized the Home Office and immigration officials for using “guesswork and speculation” to decide the age of some asylum-seekers.
The judge found that officials decided the asylum-seeker was older than he said he was based on the young man’s assertion that he had started shaving regularly before he fled Afghanistan in 2021.
The decision, the judge said, was “inherently subjective and not properly capable of bearing much evidential weight.”
Enver Solomon, CEO of the Refugee Council, told The Times: “Distinguishing between adults and children is not something that can be done quickly; it takes time and expertise to make the right decision.
“But the reality is that poor quality decisions are resulting in far too many children being wrongly age-assessed and put at risk.”
A Home Office spokesman said in statement: “It’s vital that we remove incentives for adults to pretend to be children in order to remain in the UK.
“Between January 2016 and the year ending in June 2023, 49 per cent of asylum applicants whose age was disputed were found to be adults.
“We are strengthening the age verification process through the National Age Assessment Board, introducing scientific assessments, such as x-rays, and measures under the Illegal Migration Act which will help ensure assessments are robust and protect children.”
Ukraine to launch joint weapons production with US
- Zelensky said the long-term agreement would create jobs and a new industrial base in Ukraine
- Kyiv has stepped up efforts to boost domestic weapons production
KYIV: Ukraine and the United States have agreed to launch joint weapons production in a step that will enable Kyiv to start producing air defense systems, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday as he wrapped up a visit to the US.
In his daily address to Ukrainians, Zelensky said the long-term agreement would create jobs and a new industrial base in Ukraine, whose economy has been devastated by Russia’s invasion and war.
“It was a very important visit to Washington, very important results,” Zelensky said in a video posted on the presidential website on Friday morning.
“And a long-term agreement — we will work together so that Ukraine produces the necessary weapons together with the United States. Co-production in the defense (sector) with the United States is a historic thing.”
Kyiv has stepped up efforts to boost domestic weapons production as much as possible because 19 months of war has created a huge demand for arms and ammunition to fend off Russian attacks along a 1,000 km (620 mile) front line. Russian air strikes across Ukraine have caused widespread damage and killed many people.
Zelensky said the Ministry for Strategic Industries, which oversees weapons production in Ukraine, had signed cooperation agreements with three associations, uniting over 2,000 defense US companies, on future possible work in Ukraine.
“We are preparing to create a new defense ecosystem with the United States to produce weapons to strengthen further freedom and protect life together,” Zelensky said without disclosing more details.
Ukraine depends heavily on Western military support. To reduce its dependence, Zelensky and his team have been pushing for reforms in the domestic defense industry to modernize local producers and increase supplies to the front.
Zelensky has said previously that Kyiv will soon host an international arms production forum, inviting companies from over 20 countries.
The government is also implementing reforms at its main weapons production company — Ukroboronprom — to improve transparency, boost production capacity and enable it to cooperate more actively with Western producers.
Ukraine has already agreed several joint projects with central European producers to repair Ukrainian tanks and other vehicles, and has been working to develop drone and missile production.
