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The fall of Afghanistan
The terrorist in Kabul approached the American force - and exploded: "They should not have died"
The U.S. military says a suicide bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a U.S. military base, killing at least 11 people and wounding 11 others.
"It should not have happened," a military source said of the 13 soldiers killed
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Afghanistan
Kabul
ISIS
United States
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Saturday, 28 August 2021, 19:23
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The forces helped evacuate about 100,000 people in two weeks.
American soldier with baby at Kabul airport (Photo: AP)
On Wednesday night, U.S. intelligence agencies were almost certain that a terrorist attack was about to take place at Kabul airport, so the State Department urged U.S. citizens to leave the compound immediately.
Shortly after 12 hours, a suicide bomber steps through the crowd to a gate manned by American forces and blows himself up, killing 13 American soldiers and dozens of other Afghan civilians.
It was the deadliest incident by the United States military in the country in more than a decade, and a jarring ending to the 20 years of war in the country, towards the end of the withdrawal on Tuesday.
Among the sharpest questions to be investigated by the United States military are - how did the terrorist cross the Taliban checkpoints?
Why were American forces so concentrated even though they knew an attack was only a matter of time?
And did the terrorist get help from within?
"There was a certain failure here," admitted General Frank McKenzie, commander of the Central Command of the United States Army, hours after the attack for which ISIS local branch claimed responsibility.
However, Mackenzie added that at one point, the soldiers had no choice but to make contact with those who wanted to board the evacuation flights, scan them and make sure they had no weapons and that they did not enter the compound if they posed a threat.
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The United States does not believe that the Taliban cooperated with the attack. Organization forces block roads to the port (Photo: Reuters)
U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the conditions for this attack had become perfect in recent months.
According to them, weeks before the start of the evacuation operation from Kabul airport after being occupied by the Taliban, the military sought permission to rescue at-risk Afghan civilians from the country.
However, the slowness of their screening process and the inability to find a place of refuge for the evacuees in other countries slowed the evacuation operation.
At one point, Kabul airport was shut down for six hours.
Some 5,000 American troops helped evacuate more than 100,000 people from Afghanistan in less than two weeks, in the largest air evacuation operation of its kind in history.
Due to the security alerts, two of the entrance gates to the airport were closed, but the "Avi" pass, where the American forces were stationed, remained open.
Wounded from the attack at Kabul airport in the hospital (Photo: AP)
U.S. officials told the New York Times that on the day of the attack, Taliban forces twice repulsed the crowd that sought to reach the airport, but these returned again.
The third time, someone else was with them - the terrorist.
At 17:48, the terrorist approached the American soldiers who were scanning the person who wanted to enter the airport.
He was carrying an 11-pound explosive belt - an unusual weight for an explosive belt - which he hid under his clothes. When it was his turn to be checked, he exploded, leaving a bloodbath in the airport compound
. They should not have died. "
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