This image from a video released by the Defense Department shows Marines at the Abbey Gate of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, before a suicide bomber ignited an exploding vest on Aug. 26, 2021. The bombing killed 13 U.S. service members and about 170 Afghans. (Defense Department)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is creating a task force to examine a previous investigation and findings of the U.S. military’s chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, according to a memo released Tuesday.
“The Department of Defense has an obligation, both to the American people and to the warfighters who sacrificed their youth in Afghanistan, to get to the facts,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in the memo, first published on his official X account.
Creation of the special review panel comes after a three-month review of the suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate to Kabul’s international airport that killed 13 American troops and more than 150 Afghans in August 2021.
A review by U.S. Central Command released last year during President Joe Biden’s administration found that the bombing was not preventable, and U.S. service members did not see the bomber shortly before the attack.
Hegseth has promised repeatedly that there would be “accountability” in the Pentagon over the fall of Afghanistan. In a Feb. 26 cabinet meeting, with Hegseth sitting beside him, President Donald Trump suggested firing every general officer involved in the withdrawal.
The intent of the task force, Hegseth’s memo said, is to provide the American people with the complete picture of the Abbey Gate bombing.
The panel will examine the findings of the CENTCOM investigation, including sources and witnesses. The panel will also analyze the decision-making that led to what Hegseth described as “one of America’s darkest and deadliest international moments.”
“This remains an important step toward regaining faith and trust with the American people and all those who wear the uniform and is prudent based on the number of causalities and equipment lost during the execution of this withdrawal operation,” reads the memo.
In August 2023, the CENTCOM commander, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, directed a supplemental review following public testimony and other public statements regarding the events.
In five months, 13 service members from the Marines and the Army conducted more than 50 interviews and compiled more than 1,200 pages of documents and imagery.
“The suicide bomber was not previously identified in the crowd, nor was there an opportunity for service members to engage him prior to the attack on August 26, 2021,” CENTCOM said in its statement.
The review also found the Abbey Gate bombing was not preventable at the tactical level without degrading the mission. It also found military leaders were present and made “sound tactical decisions.”
The review also determined it was unlikely that the attackers had made a test run outside Abbey Gate days before the deadly blast although investigators were unable to rule that out completely.
The new panel will be headed by top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, an Army veteran who was wounded in Afghanistan.
Additionally, Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, a combat-decorated Marine officer who spoke out about the Afghanistan withdrawal, and Jerry Dunleavy, an author and journalist who helped lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s investigation into the Afghanistan withdrawal, will serve on the panel.
The Pentagon memo does not provide a timeline for the panel to complete its review, but Hegseth said the task force would “provide updates at appropriate times to keep the American people informed.”
Hegseth said Monday on Fox News that the panel make not finish its work until 2026.
