The compensation offer was made on Thursday in a meeting between Colin Kahl, the under-secretary of defence for policy, and Steven Kwon, the founder and president of an aid group active in Afghanistan called Nutrition and Education International, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The Pentagon has offered unspecified condolence payments to the family of 10 civilians who were killed in a botched US drone attack in Afghanistan in August during the final days before American troops withdrew from the country. The US Department of Defense said it made a commitment that included offering "ex-gratia condolence payments", in addition to working with the US Department of State in support of the family members who were interested in relocation to the United States. Colin Kahl, the US under-secretary of defense for policy, held a virtual meeting on Thursday with Steven Kwon, the founder and president of Nutrition & Education International, the aid organisation that employed Zemari Ahmadi, who was killed in the August 29 drone attack, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said late on Friday. Ahmadi and others who were killed in the drone raid were innocent victims who bore no blame and were not affiliated with Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K) or threats to US forces, Kirby said. The drone raid in Kabul killed as many as 10 civilians, including seven children.

"This challenge will pose a representative question to be answered by respondents using a completely automated system to sift through text reports and generate a finished intelligence product," the release stated on Tuesday. The purse consists of a top prize of $100,000 and multiple prizes of $30,000 for submissions from teams of high school students, the release explained. Entrants with the highest ranked submissions will be required to submit their source codes, the release noted.