Abbey Gate Report Resurfaces Afghanistan Withdrawal Debacle

A 2-year supplemental review into the Aug. 26, 2021, terrorist attack at Abbey Gate outside Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) in Kabul, Afghanistan has just been released. 

The supplemental review was ordered by the commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to examine new information made available during public testimony and other public statements about the attack. 

The review affirmed an earlier investigation’s findings and also identified the terrorist responsible for the attack. 

Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an ISIS-K member since 2016, was named as responsible for detonating a suicide bomb at the Abbey Gate of HKIA airport and killing 13 US military personnel. 

According to the review’s findings, the attack “was not preventable” given the evacuation context that it occurred in.

Logari was one of thousands of ISIS-K members the Taliban released from a pair of detention centers in August 2021 as the US retreated its forces. 

The report has resurfaced conversations vis-a-vis President Joe Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal and response to the Taliban’s invasion. 

Namely, Logari’s links with ISIS-K, who recently executed an extensive attack in Moscow, Russia, have incited fears over the group’s potential to strike the US. 

US Representative Mike Waltz (R-FL), who introduced the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families Dignified Transport Act to support the families of the deceased soldiers, blamed President Biden for ISIS-K’s resurgence. 

“This Admin’s new frenemy in Afghanistan - the Taliban who was trusted to maintain perimeter security at Abbey Gate during the withdrawal in 2021 - have allowed ISIS to re-emerge, and these terrorists are now rapidly growing again, potentially into our homeland,” said Representative Waltz. 

ISIS-K was created in Afghanistan and had been severely weakened during President Donald Trump’s administration. 

Since Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal, however, the group has regained strength.

In late March, ISIS-K launched an attack in a Moscow concert hall  that massacred over 130 individuals. 

Terror threats have increased in the middle east as political instability in recent years has plagued the region.

US lawmakers have consequently warned that the US is not immune to such threats and present security liabilities could be exploited by terrorists to target American citizens.