CAIR deplores US strike that allegedly killed Afghan civilians, urges probe

A US Muslim rights group has condemned a US drone strike on a vehicle in Kabul on Sunday that allegedly killed 10 civilians, including six children.

In a press release on Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the killings and called for a transparent investigation into the case.

In the last known US military operation in Afghanistan, a drone targeted a vehicle that US officials alleged was carrying suicide bombers loyal to Afghanistan's Islamic State group affiliate - ISIS-KP - thwarting an imminent attack on Kabul airport.

But relatives of those killed on Sunday said the victims were civilians and had no links to ISIS-KP.

"For more than ten years, our government's drone strikes have killed thousands of innocent people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, and elsewhere in the Muslim world…the civilian casualties in Kabul are simply the latest victims of this misused technology," said Edward Ahmed, CAIR's National Deputy Director.

US Central Command later said it was investigating reports of possible civilian casualties without confirming them, while China slammed the strikes as unlawful.

CAIR has urged the Biden administration to "severely limit" the use of military drones due to their "long-standing pattern" of causing civilian deaths.

The press release cited a document CAIR published in December - a detailed agenda calling for policy changes that Biden must implement within the first hundred days of his presidency to "to ensure justice for all".

Within the document, CAIR urged Biden to engage in military action only "as a last resort", while respecting international law and protecting civilians from harm.

Biden is facing the most significant challenge in his early presidency after the death of 13 marines in an ISIS-KP bombing outside Kabul Airport, amid the US chaotic evacuation. The attack killed nearly 100 Afghan civilians hoping to flee the country after the Taliban takeover.