Photo taken on Sept. 2, 2021 shows damaged vehicles at the site of the U.S. airstrike in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
KABUL, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- "Can children be a member of Daesh group? Can you believe that a two-year-old child who even couldn't speak become a Daesh member to fight?" Musawar, a Kabul resident, asked angrily.
Daesh, or the hardliner Islamic State (IS) group, claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at Kabul airport on Aug. 26, which killed 13 U.S. soldiers and 170 Afghan civilians who were attempting to leave Afghanistan after Taliban took over the capital city on Aug. 15.
The United States said on Aug. 29 that its military forces carried out an airstrike in Kabul against a suspected ISIS-K vehicle, a local affiliate of the Islamic State outfit in Afghanistan, which could pose an imminent threat to the airport.
Recalling his ordeal, Musawar said it was in the afternoon that day when a sudden big bang erupted and he passed out. After a few minutes he recovered his sense and saw bodies of members of his neighbor Zamarai's family lying around.
"It was horrible to see the bodies of your neighbors in a pool of blood. Zamarai and his children were rolling in blood. They were alive minutes ago but suddenly were killed and no one knows why," Musawar said.
"Bodies of the ill-fated children Farzad, Zamir, Faisal, Somia and Aya between two and 15 years old were scattered in and outside the car, and it demonstrated a tragic scene of the so-called U.S. war against terror," he said.
"The U.S. is ridiculing us. How is it possible for a two-year-old child or a 12-year-old child to become Daesh member?" the man lamented.
With the withdrawal of the U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan in late August, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the end of the 20-year war in Afghanistan but vowed to pursue the IS outfit's operatives in the Central Asian country.
Although several days have passed since the deadly U.S. drone strick, survivors of the ill-fated family were still crying when recalling the tragedy.
Expressing his hatred towards the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, Emal Hamedi, Zamarai's brother and a survivor of the drone strike said the U.S. forces begun its invasion of Afghanistan by killing Afghans, and on its last leg of pullout, it also brutally killed civilians including innocent children.
"It was a terrorist attack against our family and it happened when my brother was parking his car and the attack claimed 10 lives, all civilians including children," Emal told Xinhua.
The U.S.-led forces have killed thousands of Afghans over the past 20 years and countless more would be killed under the pretext of hunting IS operatives or other terror groups in the future, said Emal, who claimed to have worked for a U.S. company in the past.
"It is not a joke to launch drone attack and kill 10 members of a family including children on charge of having links with the Daesh group, but actually the U.S. committed the crime," he said.
"I want justice and will appeal to the peace-loving nations and related international agencies to help me achieve the goal by bringing to justice the criminals," said Emal. Enditem
