Happy Nice Mall

But what the gossip and columnists didn’t mention was that the real surprise was not Hakkani’s public appearance—in fact, he did: Many times over the past two decades, the U.S. military thought they had killed him. him in drone attacks.

Clearly Hakkani is alive and well. But this raises a glaring question: If Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani wasn’t killed in these US drone strikes, who was?

The usual bland response is “terrorists,” a response now institutionalized by the highest levels of the US security state. But the final days of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan have shown that this is not necessarily true. For example, the day after the attack on troops at Kabul’s crowded airport, the United States responded with a “targeted” drone strike on the capital. It was later revealed that 10 people, all civilians from one family, died in the attack. One of the victims had served as a translator for the US in Afghanistan and had a Special Immigrant Visa available. Seven victims were children. This did not fit with the overall success story the Biden administration initially told.

But something different happened with this strike. Over the years, most US air operations have taken place in remote, rural areas where few facts can be verified and not many people get to the scene.

But this strike took place in the middle of the country’s capital.

Journalists and investigators could visit the site, which meant they could easily check everything the United States claimed – and what really happened was soon revealed. First, local Afghan television channels such as Tolo News showed family members of the victims. With so much attention paid to the withdrawal from Afghanistan, international media outlets began to arrive. A detailed report by the New York Times forced Washington to retract its previous claims. “It was a tragic mistake,” the Pentagon said at a press conference, as it had to admit that the attack killed innocent civilians with no connection to IS.

In fact, America’s latest drone strike in Afghanistan – the last high-profile act of violence – was eerily similar to the first.

On October 7, 2001, the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime. that day The first drone operation in history took place. An armed Predator drone flew over the southern province of Kandahar, known as the Taliban capital and home of the group’s supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. Operators pressed the button to kill Omar and fired two Hellfire missiles at a group of bearded Afghans in baggy robes and turbans. However, later among them could not be found. In fact, it avoided allegedly precision drones for over a decade, eventually die of natural causes in a hideout just a few miles from a sprawling US base. Instead, America left a long trail of Afghan blood in its attempts to kill him and his associates.