Congressmen demand answers after contradiction to the attack at Kabul airport

Eight Republican members of Congress wrote to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urging him to explain the discrepancies between the CNN last month about the Islamic State-K attack that led to the deaths of 13 US military personnel and 170 Afghans near Kabul airport in August 2021, and the conclusions of two Pentagon investigations into the incident.

The report from CNN revealed that there were many more shooting incidents than the Pentagon has already admitted, following the suicide attack in the final days of the American evacuation from Kabul. The report included a video obtained by CNN and which had not been publicly seen in full yet taken by a Marine's GoPro camera.

The letter was sent on Tuesday by lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and posed a series of pointed questions to the Pentagon about its investigation into what was the deadliest incident in Afghanistan in decades – a brutal final point. and bloody for America's longest war.

The eight congressmen, five of whom are veterans with experience in Afghanistan, urged Austin “in the strongest possible terms to explain the discrepancy between the results of the CENTCOM (U.S. Central Command) investigation and this new report” from CNN .

Much of the controversy over the Pentagon's two investigations into the attack has focused on the gunfire that followed the explosion. Some Marines told military investigators they felt they were being targeted or opened fire, and 19 Afghan survivors told the CNN in 2022 who were shot at or witnessed Afghans being shot.

But the two Pentagon investigations – released in February 2022 and last month – concluded that the only gunfire that followed came from US and UK troops in three bursts of gunfire that were “nearly simultaneous” and did not hit anyone.

In their letter, the members of Congress said that “it is unclear what generated this CENTCOM data point of near-simultaneous gunfire” in three bursts, which is “directly contradicted by the video footage obtained by CNN which show 11 episodes of gunfire over almost four minutes.”

The congressmen added that, after the CNN Having published the GoPro footage, the Pentagon assured the House Foreign Affairs Committee that it had not seen the video before publication, but that the video did not contradict the conclusions of its investigations.

“While we appreciate CENTCOM’s investigation into the Abbey Gate attack, nearly three years later we still have the same questions as the US military itself seen in the CNN had, including who was firing the shots and whether it was the Taliban or another hostile force. We therefore ask that you clarify the volume, incidence and sources of gunshots at the location,” wrote the members of Congress.

The congressmen – Mike Waltz, Darrell Issa, Tim Burchett, Brian Mast, Rich McCormick, Keith Self, Cory Mills and Chris Smith – called for further action by investigators. The most recent report from CNN included an interview with the former head of a major Kabul hospital, Dr. Sayed Ahmadi, who said he and his team removed bullets from patients in the incident and that more than 70 of those killed at his hospital had gunshot wounds.

The letter asks why Pentagon investigators did not speak to Dr. Ahmadi, or any other Afghan. The Pentagon has said that all reports of gunshot wounds are wrong and that witnesses who remember extensive firefights — whether against Marines or Afghan civilians — are suffering the effects of an explosive concussion or traumatic brain injury.

“Finally, why do journalists have these videos and the Department does not? Is there any other footage in the Department's possession that has not yet been released? If so, please release these images immediately and confirm that there are no further video recordings that the Department is aware of,” they added. “The truth must be revealed.”

The Office of the Secretary of Defense told CNN in a note that, as with all Congressional correspondence, would respond directly to the members who wrote the letter.

“We honor the service and sacrifice of our thirteen service members who were killed at Abbey Gate and remain fully committed to ensuring our Gold Star families have the support and information they need. This will always be a sacred obligation for the Department of Defense,” said department spokesman James Adams.

Parents accuse Pentagon of being deceptive

Increasing congressional scrutiny of the attack comes as the parents of seven Marines who died in the incident — Jared Schmitz, Humberto Sanchez, Taylor Hoover, Nicole Gee, Kareem Nikoui, Hunter Lopez and Rylee McCollum — have accused the Pentagon of deceiving them. them.

“As parents, we have always suspected that we were not told the full truth about how our children were murdered at Abbey Gate on 26/08/21. The recent discovery of a new video released by CNN directly contradicts and exposes lies from our recent meeting last month with CENTCOM officials,” the Gold Star Families said in a statement sent to CNN .

“We are consumed with anger at the Biden administration’s betrayal. This is just the beginning of exposing the cover-up that has occurred and is still occurring. The Biden administration wants us to leave quietly, but we won't!” they added.

CENTCOM's new commander, General Erik Kurilla, last September ordered a supplemental review of the 2022 military investigation into the incident, and the families of the fallen service members were informed last month of its findings.

Its focus was primarily on whether the Islamic State-K suicide bomber could have been stopped and determined that the attack “could not have been preventable at the tactical level.” Families have long maintained that more could have been done to stop the Islamic State-K suicide bomber.

The letter and statement came as CENTCOM released more than a thousand pages of witness accounts and evidence from the supplemental review. The 1,214 pages offer a variety of accounts of the explosion's aftermath, some of which appear to support the conclusions of the supplemental review. Others still contain unpublished witness statements about subsequent gunshots, which seems to contradict the conclusions of the two investigations.

Two apparent Marine accounts of the explosion's aftermath provide similar descriptions of a U.S. personnel member being calmed while trying to load a .50 caliber heavy machine gun into a sniper tower overlooking the explosion site and apparently failing to fire. the gun. The names of US personnel have been redacted.

One of the soldiers recalled: “The Marines on the ground were firing toward the explosion site. But I didn’t see anyone shoot at us.” He added that the shooting continued for “probably a few minutes,” and then he recalled hearing: “a Sergeant Gy [sargento de artilharia] he shouted to the tower saying that we were taking small arms to find and kill them. I’m not sure of his name.”

Another eyewitness said he was inside the sniper tower above the explosion site when two shots hit the window in front of him and a third shot narrowly missed him.

Evidence also suggests that the Pentagon may have more video footage than it has said it has in public. A military official said there were nine operational drones at the airport shortly after the explosion and that he watched the drone feeds for three hours.

The Pentagon released five edited minutes of footage of the aftermath. The report also says that “ISR” – probably a surveillance camera – was available at the scene shortly after the explosion. Not all of these images were released. In another account, a Marine appears to hand a GoPro to the supplemental review team.

Army Lt. Col. Rob Lodewick, the supplemental review team's public affairs advisor, said both investigations maintained their “utmost focus” in a “transparent, exhaustive and conclusive” way for the families of fallen U.S. service members, service members US and public. “Any accusations of deliberate attempt [por parte de oficiais militares] to deceive remain categorically false.”

However, he added that investigators “recognize the potential for new information to emerge over time” and that CENTCOM “welcomes any additional information and images available to help ensure a comprehensive understanding of the Abbey Gate attack from as many perspectives as possible.”

Lodewick noted that the review team compiled 4,000 pages of evidence and “considered the totality of information, provided by more than 190 interviews, in concluding that there was no complex attack.” He added that all “images, including voluntarily provided personal GoPro images, were thoroughly examined” and handled “in accordance with Department of Defense and Service policies.”