Deadly Kabul airport attack last year was not preventable, says Pentagon

The blast took place at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport on August 26 and killed 11 U.S. Marines, a sailor and a soldier, who were screening the thousands of Afghans trying to flee the country after the Taliban takeover.

Washington: The military investigation into the deadly attack during the Afghanistan evacuation has concluded that a suicide bomber, carrying 20 pounds of explosives packed with ball bearings, acted alone and that the deaths of more than 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. Service members were not preventable.

The blast at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport on Aug. 26 killed 11 U.S. Marines, a sailor and a soldier, who were screening the thousands of Afghans frantically trying to get onto one of the crowded flights leaving the country after the Taliban takeover. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

At the Pentagon on Friday, military officials laid out a detailed and graphic minute-by-minute account of the bombing. The bottom line, they said, was that those who died had wounds that were "so catastrophic" that they couldn't be overcome. And they said that earlier thoughts that it was a complex attack involving gunfire turned out to be unfounded.