August 26, 2021militaryAfghanistan withdrawalterrorismUS casualtiesevacuationmilitary
ISIS-K suicide bomber kills 13 US troops and 170 Afghan civilians at Kabul airport gate
A suicide bomber from the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) kills 13 U.S. service members and approximately 170 Afghan civilians at Abbey Gate outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, in the deadliest attack on U.S. forces since 2011. Tens of thousands of Afghans are pressing against the gate trying to board evacuation flights. Biden calls the attackers "ISIS-K" and pledges "we will hunt you down and make you pay." Two days later, a U.S. drone strike in Kabul targeting an ISIS-K vehicle kills 10 Afghan civilians including 7 children in what the Pentagon initially calls a "righteous strike" before later acknowledging the tragic error.