The bombing occurred on August 26 at Kabul airport, Afghanistan.
The US military on Friday said an Islamic State bomber that killed 13 US soldiers and at least 170 Afghans at Kabul airport last August was not the complex attack suspected. initial suspicion and it cannot be prevented with available resources.
Speaking to reporters about the results of the military investigation, Marine General Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, said the bomb fired a 5mm ballpoint bullet through a packed crowd at the station. The airport’s Monastery Gate. The investigation found no tangible evidence of any gunshots.
“I want to acknowledge that the investigation is different from what we initially believed on the day of the attack,” McKenzie said. “At the time, the best information we had after the attack suggested it was a complex attack by both the suicide bomber and ISIS-K fighters,” he added.
The bombing occurred on August 26 as the US military was trying to help both Americans and Afghans flee in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban takeover, and increased America’s sense of defeat 20 years later. war.
It also left the administration of President Joe Biden struggling to respond to accusations that the State Department could have evacuated Americans sooner rather than put the US military at risk.
The attack that put the US military on high alert may have contributed to a US drone strike that confused civilians with Islamic State fighters.
When asked if it could be prevented, Army Brigadier General Lance Curtis said: “Based on our investigation, on a tactical level, this is not preventable. And leaders on the ground have followed the appropriate measures.”
McKenzie and other U.S. military officials say the investigation has gathered testimony from more than a hundred witnesses, analysis from explosives and medical examiners, drone footage and other sources. other evidence.
Officials said the bomb was made of about 20 pounds of military-grade explosives and it was likely the bomber lifted it before detonating it. In addition to the 13 US service members killed, about 45 others were wounded.
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