The ISIS bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 American troops and over 170 Afghans on Aug. 26, 2021, was not a “complex attack” and was executed by a single bomber, a United States military investigation discovered.
President Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal of American troops from the nation led to a swift takeover by the Taliban, which led to the airport becoming a chaotic and unsafe disaster.
“The investigation found that a single, explosive device killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US servicemembers by explosively directing ball bearings through a packed crowd and into our men and women at Abbey gate,” Gen. Frank McKenzie said at a Pentagon briefing on Friday, according to CNN.
“At the time, the best information we had in the immediate aftermath of the attack indicated that it was a complex attack by both a suicide bomber and ISIS-K gunmen,” he added.
“We now know that the explosively-fired ball bearings caused wounds that looked like gunshots, and when combined with a small number of warning shots that led many to assume that a complex attack had occurred.”
A single bomb w/ “disturbing lethality” killed 13 U.S. troops and more than 170 Afghans near the culmination of the U.S. evacuation from Kabul international airport, a U.S. military investigation has found, in contradiction to initial statements by senior U.S. defense officials.
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) February 4, 2022
The War in Afghanistan did not see any combat-related servicemember deaths in 18 months prior to the attack, which makes the botched withdrawal sting all the more as more details are learned.
Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a report harshly condemning the administration’s actions in Afghanistan and suggesting extreme ignorance at the highest levels of leadership.
“It is clear the senior leadership of the Biden Administration failed to effectively plan, coordinate, and execute an orderly withdrawal and evacuation” from Afghanistan, the report states, according to Fox News.
“The Biden Administration squandered precious time, ignored intelligence and recommendations from people on the ground, and refused bipartisan support to give them the resources to succeed. In the process, the botched withdrawal has tarnished America’s reputation and credibility.”
Related: Joe Biden ‘Makes No Apologies For’ Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal
The airport attack should never have happened, but it was the result of incompetence from the president and other officials that paved the way for the tragedy. Thankfully, it appears that there are hardworking servicemembers and lawmakers trying to get to the bottom of what truly happened in August, as it must never happen again.
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