Abbey Gate massacre

For further details and discussion, see the talk page. (To see what is hot, see recent changes)

Abbey Gate of Kabul airport in the center. The fortified "Baron Hotel" compound in the lower right

Blast marks on wall of the Baron Hotel compound opposite the Abbey Gate where the explosion happened

On August 26, 2021 at 5:48 p.m. an ISIS suicide bomber exploded his vest at the Abbey Gate of Kabul airport killing 13 American soldiers. US troops respond by opening fire and may have killed a large part of the 150 Afghan victims, including 30 Taliban fighters.

Warnings

• The Biden administration’s incompetence has created the conditions for a modern Dien Bin Phu in Kabul - Scott Ritter, RT, August 19, 2021
• Afghanistan: Attack could strike Kabul airport within hours, minister warns - BBC News, August 26, 2021
• Daesh-K Commander Told CNN Before Kabul Blasts That Group Was 'Waiting For Time to Strike' - Sputnik, August 28, 2021 (CNN video)
• ‘CIA tweets CIA interview with CIA’: Viewers react to suddenly-released 'eerily prophetic' CNN interview with ISIS-K commander - RT, August 28, 2021
• Pentagon prepared for ‘mass casualty’ attack at Kabul Airport hours before explosion - Politico, August 30, 2021

Attack

• BREAKING Explosion at Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul - Air Live, August 26, 2021
• As U.S. Troops Searched Afghans, a Bomber in the Crowd Moved In - New York Times, August 27, 2021 (archive)

  At 5:48 p.m., the bomber, wearing a 25-pound explosive vest under clothing, walked up to the group of Americans who were frisking people hoping to enter the complex. He waited, officials said, until just before he was about to be searched by the American troops. And then he detonated the bomb, which was unusually large for a suicide vest, killing himself and igniting an attack that would leave dozens of people dead, including 13 American service members.

• US Troops May Have Accidentally Gunned Down Civilians During Kabul Airport Attack, Eyewitnesses Say - Sputnik, August 28, 2021

Location

• Afghanistan: Hope is all they have left - no good options left for refugees waiting in sewage-filled canal outside Kabul airport - Sky News, August 24, 2021

  Video from Abbey Gate before attack

• Satellite images show crowds at Kabul airport before two reported explosions - Live Science, August 27, 2021
• The Pentagon’s filtered version of the Kabul rescue mission looks nothing like what really went down - Task & Purpose, September 3, 2021 (video also here, here, and here)

Videos

• Full report of the situation of the dead and wounded in the bloody incident at the airport controlled by the Taliban - Kabul Lovers, August 27, 2021

  This guy, Faisal, has a YT channel, Kabul Lovers, where he's engaging in some first-class streetwise journalism, putting to shame virtually every TV network. He's talking to a military officer who examined the bodies of many of the bombing victims at Kabul Emergency Hospital. He says most were not victims of the suicide bombing: All victims were killed by American bullets, except maybe 20 people out of 100. (via Pepe Escobar)

• Victims' relatives still desperately search for news of loved ones - BBC News, August 28, 2021

  The BBC's Secunder Kermani reports from Kabul. His report contains distressing images.

• Secunder Kermani @SecKermani on Twitter, August 28, 2021 (BBC report)

  Our report from last night on the awful ISIS attack outside Kabul airport as families still search Kabul's morgues for their loved ones..

  Many we spoke to, including eyewitnesses, said significant numbers of those killed were shot dead by US forces in the panic after the blast

• American Troops May Have Fired at Civilians after Blast at Kabul Airport - RT, August 30, 2021
• CN Live! S3E10 AFGHANISTAN: The 20-Year Disaster - Consortium News, September 1, 2021

  Scott Ritter analyses the event at 2h 13m 10s.

Later events

August 29

Two of the six children killed in the US missile attack in Kabul on August 29, 2021

The multiple rocket launcher system built into a passenger car that was used by ISIS to target the Kabul airport on August 30, 2021

• Seven killed in two attacks near Kabul airport - Afghanistan Times, August 29, 2021

  A suspected suicide bomber was targeted and killed near the airport by a US drone strike

  In another incident, at least six civilians were killed and few others were wounded after a rocket landed on a house in a residential neighborhood in PD-15 of Kabul city

• US Drone Strike Targets Daesh Car Bomb on Way to Attack Kabul Airport, Causing 'Secondary' Blasts - Sputnik, August 29, 2021 (more)
• US attack on Kabul kills Afghan children - Fars News, August 30, 2021
• Nine family members, including children, killed in US strike in Kabul targeting suspected ISIS-K suicide bomber, relative says - CNN, August 30, 2021
• Afghanistan: US investigates civilian deaths in Kabul strike - BBC, August 30, 2021 (mirror)
• US drone airstrike killed 9 of family, including two-year-olds: Report - News9 Live, August 30, 2021

  A local reporter claimed nine members of one family, including six children, lost their lives in the attack that targeted a vehicle in a residential area.

• In US Drone Strike, Evidence Suggests No ISIS Bomb - The New York Times, September 10, 2021 (archive)
• New Evidence Raises Doubts About US Reason for Drone Strike in Kabul Last Month - Reports - Sputnik, September 11, 2021
• US drone strike in Kabul killed AID WORKER, not ISIS terrorist, NYT investigation shows - RT, September 11, 2021

"Tragic mistake"

Gen McKenzie: Afghanistan drone strike was "a tragic mistake" - CBS News, YouTube, September 17, 2021

August 30

• Several rockets target Kabul airport, US military activate missile defenses to repel attack – reports - RT, August 30, 2021
• Islamic State claims responsibility for rocket attack on Kabul airport, as White House says evacuation continues unhindered - RT, August 30, 2021
• US defense system downed one rocket in Kabul attack - Associated Press via Military Times, August 30, 2021

Americans leave

• The Final U.S. Military Plane Has Left Afghanistan, Marking The War's End - NPR, August 30, 2021, 8:14 AM EDT

  Pentagon officials have announced the last U.S. military plane has left Afghanistan, marking the end of America's longest war.

• USA officially withdrew from Afghanistan - Cassad, August 30, 2021
• "Now we have Black Hawk." The Taliban cross over Kandahar in an American helicopter - Cassad, Telegram, August 30, 2021

  (Unconfirmed).

• More footage from the airport. Outside perimeter - Cassad, Telegram, August 30, 2021
• WATCH: Taliban ‘celebrates’ last American troops fleeing Afghanistan… ‘firing more ammo than in actual combat’ – RT correspondent - RT, August 31, 2021

Analysis

• Who Profits from the Kabul Suicide Bombing? - Pepe Escobar, Unz Review, August 27, 2021
• Terror Attacks in Kabul Suspiciously on Cue… Who Gains? - Finian Cunningham, Strategic Culture, August 28, 2021
• The Never Ending Lies About The War On Afghanistan - Moon of Alabama, August 28, 2021
• Questions With New Reports That US Forces Gunned Down Civilians After Kabul Blast - Caitlin Johnstone, August 28, 2021
• Media Bury Story That US May Have Fired on Crowd at Airport - Joe Lauria, Consortium News, August 29, 2021
• Did U.S. troops shoot some Afghans during Kabul airport attack? - Andrew Korybko, CGTN, August 30, 2021