ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: US soldiers from Grim Company of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment walk down the street near an Afghan police checkpoint, 2014. (Reuters / Lucas Jackson)
US Forces reportedly killed scores of Afghan civilians in “panic shooting” following the August 26 Kabul airport suicide attack.
Citing eyewitness and family members of some of the victims, BBC Pakistan journalist Secunder Kermani reported that a significant number of those killed in the attack were in fact shot dead by US forces in the panic after the blast.
Kermani reached out to the US Department of Defense for a comment on these claims. Nevertheless, the DoD didn’t respond.
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 pic.twitter.com/ac5nUVeJ4x
— Secunder Kermani (@SecKermani) August 28, 2021
Earlier, the Kabul Lovers channel on YouTube shared an interesting interview with an aid worker at a hospital in the Afghan capital who was among the first responders to the airport attack. The aid worker said that most of the victims were in fact shot in their upper body, suggesting that it was US forces who fired.
“Most victims of #KabulAirportBlast were not killed by the blast but by bullets fired at them by the Americans.”
Faisal of Kabul Lovers channel interviewed aid workers at Emergency Hospital in #Kabul and this is what they have to say: pic.twitter.com/vvQETq6uEe
— Sangar | سنګر پیکار (@paykhar) August 28, 2021
The attack was among the bloodiest in the history of the Afghan conflict. At least 170 people, mostly civilians were killed. Two British nationals and the child of another British national were among the victims.
The US lost 13 service members, including ten Marines. At least 18 others sustained wounds in the attack. President Joe Biden vowed to “hunt down” the preparators.
When the attack first took place, Lara Seligman of Politico said that US forces “returned fire” after the explosion near Kabul airport. US defense officials also said “gunmen” took part in the suicide attack.
JUST IN: Three sources confirm US casualties. US forces returned fire after first explosion. @AndrewDesiderio @alexbward
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) August 26, 2021
Nevertheless, ISIS – Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), which took responsibility for the attack, said that it was carried out by a suicide bomber only. The group identified the bomber as “Abd al-Rahman al-Logari”.
The testimonies provided by eyewitness provide a logical explanation for how so many people were killed in the attack. However, these claims are yet to be confirmed.
