An additional review by the US military into the deadly Abbey Gate bombing during the Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021 has concluded that service members had not previously seen the suspected bomber ahead of the attack. The review aimed to clear up outstanding questions about the attack and revealed that service members believed they had the bomber in their sights due to conflated intelligence reporting.
The bomber was identified as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, a member of ISIS-K, who had been released by the Taliban from a prison near Kabul just days before the attack. The new review, conducted by US Army Central, included 52 additional interviews on top of the more than 100 already conducted in the original US Central Command investigation released in February 2022.
The review team officials stated that the bombing was not preventable at a tactical level and that the confusion surrounding the attack stemmed from a conflation of actual intelligence reporting with spot reporting. The review affirmed that US troops on the ground during the withdrawal believed in the importance of their mission despite the increased threat reporting.
Officials also addressed claims about the sniper team's actions prior to the attack, clarifying that the team had identified a possible threat but ultimately lost sight of the suspect before the bombing occurred. The review team denied allegations that the sniper team's battalion commander did not understand the rules of engagement, stating that the commander was briefed on the concerns raised by the team.
While the supplemental review did not change the findings of the original investigation, it provided additional clarity on the circumstances of the attack and affirmed the dedication of US service members during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
