KABUL AIRPORT ABBEY GATE BOMBING

Kabul airport Abbey Gate bombing

On August 26th, 2021, as crowds of desperate Afghans pressed toward Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, a suicide bomber struck near Abbey Gate. American Marines, soldiers, and a Navy corpsman were working shoulder to shoulder with allied troops, trying to screen evacuees while guarding against threats. The explosion ripped through the dense throng, killing thirteen American service members and many Afghan men, women, and children. In the chaos that followed, troops rendered aid, organized evacuations of the wounded, and maintained security even as they mourned fallen comrades. For many in the American military community, the attack became one of the most searing memories of the Afghanistan withdrawal and a stark reminder of the risks carried until the final hours of a long war.