US Probe Says 2021 Kabul Airport Bombing Was Single Blast, No Gun Shots Fired

© AP Photo / Rahmat GulAfghan security forces arrive at the site of an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan
Afghan security forces arrive at the site of an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan - Sputnik International, 1920, 04.02.2022
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WASHINGTON,(Sputnik)- The Pentagon investigation into the Islamic State-Khorasan's (terrorist group, banned in Russia) suicide bombing at the Kabul airport last August found that the attack was a single blast and no one was killed by gunfire from US or Afghan troops, Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said on Friday.
"The investigation found that a single explosive device killed at least 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US service members by explosively direction ball bearings through a packed crowd and into our men and women at Abbey Gate," McKenzie said during a press briefing. "The investigation found no definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire, either US or Afghan."
McKenzie said the investigation found that the ball bearings from the blast caused injuries in victims that looked like gun shot wounds.
US Army Brig. Gen. Lance Curtis, the lead investigator into the attack, said there is no evidence indicating the Taliban (under UN sanctions over terrorist activities) knew the IS-K suicide attack would take place.
Curtis said his team of investigators conducted 70 interviews with witnesses and collected 250 pieces of evidence during the investigation.
In 2021, the Taliban led a major offensive in Afghanistan during the withdrawal of US troops from the country and took over in August. In September, the radical group established an interim government. Afghanistan has been gripped by a severe social and economic crisis ever since, with the country's foreign assets frozen.
* The Taliban is sanctioned by the United Nations for terrorist activities.
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