UAV crew and ground commanders faulted in Afghan civilian deaths

The U.S. military has blamed a UAV crew and ground commanders in Afghanistan for 23 civilians deaths in February.

The investigation found that the Predator crew had wrongly concluded that three vehicles carrying 30 civilians were insurgents rushing to attack U.S. and Afghan ground units.

Two command posts — one manned by Special Forces and one by conventional forces — also failed to provide accurate “insights, analysis or options” to the Special Forces ground commander.

This lead the ground commander to conclude that the convoy was preparing to attack his forces and a strike by a Kiowa helicopter was authorized.