Single IS bomber carried out Kabul airport assault final 12 months, says US navy

The US navy mentioned on Friday {that a} single Islamic State bomber killed 13 US troops and at the very least 170 Afghans at Kabul airport final August, not the complicated assault initially suspected, and that it couldn’t have been prevented with the sources readily available.

Briefing reporters on the outcomes of a navy inquiry, Marine General Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, mentioned the bomb despatched 5mm ball bearings ripping by way of a packed crowd on the airport’s Abbey Gate. The investigation discovered no definitive proof of any gunfire.”I want to acknowledge that the investigation differs from what we initially believed on the day of the attack,” McKenzie mentioned. “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, utilizing an acronym for Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate.The bombing occurred on August 26 as US troops had been making an attempt to assist each Americans and Afghans flee within the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban’s takeover, and compounded America’s sense of defeat after 20 years of warfare.It additionally left President Joe Biden’s administration struggling to reply accusations that the State Department might have evacuated Americans sooner as a substitute of placing US troops in danger.The assault put the US navy on a heightened state of alert which will have contributed to a botched US drone strike that mistook civilians for Islamic State militants.Asked whether or not it might have been prevented, Army Brigadier General Lance Curtis mentioned: “Based upon our investigation, at the tactical level, this was not preventable. And the leaders on the ground followed the proper measure.”McKenzie and different US navy officers mentioned the investigation had gathered testimony from greater than 100 witnesses, evaluation from medical experts and explosives consultants, drone footage and different proof.Officials mentioned the bomb was created from about 20 kilos of military-grade explosives and the bomber most probably raised it earlier than detonating it. Beyond the 13 US servicemembers killed, some 45 others had been wounded.READ: Taliban ‘strongly condemn’ Kabul airport assault, suspect IS position, say US was warned ALSO READ: Suicide bomber who attacked Kabul airport was caught in Delhi 5 years in the past: ISIS-Okay