There may have been more gunfire following the 2021 Kabul airport bombing than U.S. military investigators have previously disclosed, according to new footage and interviews presented by CNN on Wednesday.
A bomber approached checkpoints surrounding the Abbey Gate approach at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 26, 2021, setting off an attack that resulted in dozens wounded and killed—including 13 U.S. service members—during the U.S.-led evacuation of Afghanistan.
The U.S. Department of Defense completed two reviews of the events at the Kabul airport that day; an initial review was finalized in 2022, and another supplemental review was released earlier this month.
To date, the U.S. military has supported the conclusion that all casualties from the bombing attack were the result of the blast and wounds inflicted by ball bearings housed on the bomber’s suicide vest that sprayed out as the explosive charge went off.
The U.S. military reviews have, so far, acknowledged three bursts of gunfire, which they attributed to U.S. and British service members firing warning shots, and insisted none of these gunshots injured or killed individuals in the crowd. But on Wednesday, CNN released previously unseen footage showing the movement of U.S. Marines following the bomb’s detonation.
The new CNN footage includes audio suggesting several more bursts of gunfire than previously acknowledged by the U.S. military reviews.
CNN had Robert Maher, an audio forensic expert at Montana State University in Bozeman, review the new footage. CNN also had Sarah Morris, a digital forensics expert from the University of Southampton in England, review the footage. Based on these forensic analyses, CNN reported there were actually 11 bursts of gunfire over a four-minute window, totaling a minimum of 43 shots.
The source of the alleged gunfire is not clear in the CNN footage, but several rounds of dull thumping sounds can be heard throughout the video.
It’s unclear if the U.S. military reviews have been aware of the footage CNN obtained, but an early segment of the CNN footage does match up with a short video clip the military publicly shared on Feb. 4, 2022, the same day the military announced its initial review of the attack.
CNN Source Comes Public About Alleged Gunshot Wounds
In addition to the new footage, CNN revealed new interviews conducted with sources who lived through the attack and witnessed its aftermath. Among those newly identified sources was Dr. Sayeed Ahmadi, director of the Wazir Akhbar Khan Hospital in Kabul.
Dr. Ahmadi originally spoke to CNN in 2022, on condition of anonymity, to describe injuries he examined following the airport bombing attack. He alleged finding multiple instances of gunshot wounds among the casualties in the attack.
The DOD previously disputed the claims Dr. Ahmadi anonymously raised of gunshot wounds among those injured and killed in the Abbey Gate attack.
“The investigation found no definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire,” now-retired U.S. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie said in a February 2022 press briefing detailing the findings of the initial review of the Kabul airport attack.
The DOD insisted wounds inflicted by bullet and ball-bearing would be hard to distinguish, but Dr. Ahmadi has now come forward publicly to dispute that conclusion.
“Explosion injuries come with severe injuries and lots of holes in the bodies,” the Afghan doctor told CNN. “But people who were shot had just one or two holes in the chest or head.”
CNN reported multiple combat medics, who were not identified by the publication, backed Dr. Ahmadi’s claims.
Dr. Ahmadi initially sought anonymity while still living in Afghanistan but now feels comfortable raising these allegations publicly after having been granted asylum in Finland.
The Afghan doctor said he was never approached by military investigators about his claims.
“I hope one day they ask me,” he told CNN.
Warning Shots Claims Questioned
CNN also reported, based on anonymized interviews with U.S. service members present during the attack, who described hearing gunfire and feeling like they were being attacked. According to CNN, some of these unidentified Marines reported seeing what they thought was a militant gunman, though the Pentagon has denied any other gunmen were present during the attack.
According to CNN, one of the unidentified Marines challenged the idea that his fellow Marines would have fired warning shots.
“It wasn’t a direct order,” the unidentified Marine reportedly said. “But it was a common understanding: no warning shots.”
That same Marine also said he didn’t believe the shots heard in the new footage were consistent with warning fire.
The Department of the Navy, which oversees both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, published a policy order in December 2020, generally prohibiting the use of warning shots by its personnel.
“Warning shots are prohibited in the U.S. Warning shots are also prohibited outside the U.S. unless otherwise authorized by applicable host-nation law and status of forces agreements and per standing [rules for the use of force] in non-U.S. locations,” the policy order states.
A September 2021 AR 15-6 report produced by the U.S. Army Central Command (ARCENT) attributed warning shots to British troops assigned to the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 PARA). This report also includes the account of a U.S. Marine who described witnessing warning shots fired by an individual whose name is redacted in the report at another individual “who positioned himself to observe the Marines’ reaction to the blast and who had been in the crowd acting suspiciously before the blast.”
The AR 15-6 report also concluded U.S. Marines assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Divison (2/1) “did not use warning shots and only used flash bang grenades infrequently.”
The Latest Pentagon Conclusions
This new CNN report comes just days after the DOD released its supplemental review of the Abbey Gate attack. That review concluded that the attack was not preventable.
Following the latest review, the DOD disputed claims raised by retired Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who alleged he and other Marines had identified a pair of potential bombing suspects and had an opportunity to shoot him before the attack.
NTD News reached out to the DOD and CENTCOM for comment on the new footage and allegations raised by CNN. Neither the DOD nor CENTCOM responded by press time.
CNN reported that it described the contents of the new footage and other allegations it raised with the DOD prior to their publication. Army Lt. Col. Rob Lodewick, public affairs adviser to the Abbey Gate Supplemental Review Team, told Military Times that reviewers were not permitted to see the new CNN footage prior to its release.
“The Abbey Gate investigation thoroughly investigated the allegations of a complex attack, as well as allegations of outgoing fire from U.S. and coalition forces following the blast,” Lt. Col. Lodewick added. “The supplemental review found no new evidence of a complex attack, and uncovered no new assertions of outgoing fire post-blast.”