The US invasion of Afghanistan cost $2 trillion and an exorbitant humanitarian cost, where foreign forces killed at least 71,000 civilians. 

Aimal Ahmadi, whose family was killed in last year’s US drone strike in Kabul, is in Qatar awaiting a “better future” in the US, AFP reported on Tuesday.

Ahmadi’s five-year-old daughter Malika, his brother Ezmarai, along with his nephews and nieces were among the 10 family members killed last year in a US strike on Kabul. His late brother had worked for an American charity.

A year on, the family is reeling from the aftermath of the deadly attack.

“I don’t wish that any human being would go through what we went through, it’s terrible, unimaginable,” the 32-year-old grieving father told the news agency while during staying at his temporary residence in Doha.

On 29 August last year, the US launched a drone strike on the family’s house under the pretext of targeting Islamic State militants at the site. However, the Pentagon later admitted that the attack on the Ahmadi’s residence was a “mistake”, saying there was no reason for personal accountability.

That came days after IS affiliate, ISIS-Khorosan, carried out multiple bombings near the Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA). More than 150 people were killed, including 13 US troops who were in the process of withdrawing from the country following a 20-year devastating war.

The deadly assault at the airport came as crowds gathered there in a desperate attempt to evacuate the country following the Taliban takeover of Kabul on 15 August. 

Qatar carried out mass evacuations at the time, helping transfer at least 80,000 Afghans and foreigners from the country. The AFP report does not mention the date Ahmadi was safely moved to Doha.

No compensation

Ahmadi said that while the US promised to compensate him and his family, they have yet to receive any money from Washington. The bereaved family also hired a lawyer, who AFP could not reach for a comment.

“It is God’s will, what has happened has happened, we can’t go back. God will punish those responsible in the afterlife,” Ahmadi’s 20-year-old nephew, Nasratullah Malikzada, told the news agency from Kabul.

The father has also lost his job as an employee with foreign companies and is waiting to complete his paperwork to reach the US, his final destination.

According to AFP,  Washington is helping in the relocation process, where his two brothers are currently residing as his sister waits to be evacuated.

US crimes in Afghanistan

Ahmadi’s family were the last of civilians killed by the US in Afghanistan following a two decade invasion. US military figures show that at least 188 civilians have been “mistakenly” killed by American forces in Afghanistan since 2018.

The US invasion of Afghanistan cost $2 trillion and an exorbitant humanitarian cost, with at least 71,000 civilians killed by foreign forces. 

A year after the takeover, which has so far brought little peace to the country, the US and NATO continue to deflect any blame over the horrors imposed on Afghanistan during the deadly invasion.

America’s longest war also ended with a chaotic exit, with recent reports pointing to the lack of planning behind the evacuation process as the Taliban made territorial gains ahead of the takeover.

The Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee revealed earlier this month that the US Joe Biden administration delayed decisions to evacuate civilians from Kabul to the last minute before the Taliban takeover.

According to the report, the military was supposed to begin planning the civilian evacuations in April. However, media reports said the order came four days before Biden set the new date for the troop withdrawal as 11 September instead of 1 May, per the 2020 Doha Agreement. 

In the announcement of the revised date, Biden said the withdrawal would be unconditional and without a peace plan, despite 20 years of instability caused by the US invasion.

The decision also fuelled ongoing tensions between the US and the Taliban, with the latter refusing to hold talks with Washington despite months of negotiations facilitated by Qatar.

Refuting the statements, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told Axios that the report was “riddled with inaccurate characterisations, cherry-picked information, and false claims.”

An internal State Department memo released on 31 July had also warned of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and collapse of the former Afghan government as US State Secretary Antony Blinken declined to hand the Senate Foreign Relations Committee a copy of the documents.