KABUL, Afghanistan — It was the final U.S. drone strike before the withdrawal from Afghanistan — a tragic coda that for many here encapsulates the legacy of America’s nearly 20-year presence in their country.
In the aftermath, the Pentagon acknowledged that its killing of 10 civilians — seven of them children — had been a mistake, a result of faulty intelligence that targeted 43-year-old Zemari Ahmadi as a terrorist with Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan rather than a longtime aid worker.
None of the strike’s planners were held accountable, but the Biden administration pledged to evacuate Ahmadi’s extended family and his colleagues — a total of 144 people — and resettle them in the United States.
