Hyderabad: The US drone strike on Sunday against suspected Daesh suicide bombers has resulted in the death of at least 10 people, including children, TOLO News has reported.
The US said that it conducted the airstrike in "self-defence" on a vehicle in Kabul's Khair Khana area against what it called an "imminent ISIS-K threat" to the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
US Central Command spokesperson, Capt Bill Urban, in a statement said, "We are confident we successfully hit the target. Significantly secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material."
Acknowledging media reports of civilian casualties following the strike, Urban said that they were still assessing the results of the strike.
"We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties. It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further," said Urban in his statement.
"We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life," he added.
Also read: US says drone kills IS bombers targeting Kabul airport
The airstrike followed a deadly suicide bomb attack at the Kabul International airport on August 26 that led to the death of over 150 people, including 13 US Marines.
The airport was also the target of a rocket attack on Monday. According to reports, five rockets were intercepted by a missile defence system. The attack came on the eve of the US troop withdrawal deadline.
