AUGUST 27, 2025 – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he anticipates that a Defense Department special review panel looking into the circumstances surrounding the Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, should be ready to present its findings by sometime in mid-2026.
The attack, carried out by a bomber affiliated with ISIS-Khorasan and wearing an improvised explosive device, killed 13 U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians at Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey Gate.
Hegseth spoke of the investigation yesterday in the White House’s Oval Office, shortly after President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation commemorating the fourth anniversary of the attack while surrounded by Gold Star family members of the victims.
“On behalf of this beautiful group, on behalf of these families [and] on behalf of your loved ones who fought for our nation, America deserves answers as far as what happened in Afghanistan; the military needs to answer for what happened in Afghanistan,” Hegseth told the group.
The secretary went on to say that Chief Pentagon Spokesman and Senior Advisor Sean Parnell — himself a veteran of the war in Afghanistan — is leading the Trump and Hegseth-ordered special review panel and that the review is taking place “on behalf of the American people.”
“The special review panel at the department continues its vital work to investigate the botched withdrawal, ensuring that the pursuit of accountability and transparency does not waver,” reads a DOD statement released today on honoring fallen heroes during the fourth anniversary of the attack.
“While the review is ongoing, the effort to uncover the full truth behind the decisions made during this period has not stopped and will not stop until every aspect is examined and those responsible are held to account,” the statement continues.
The work of the current special review panel follows a multi-month supplemental review of the original Abbey Gate investigation that began almost two years ago.
Ordered by U.S. Central Command in September 2023, the supplemental review reaffirmed the military’s finding of the initial investigation that the Abbey Gate attack could not have been preventable at the tactical level.
“Justice for the families of the 13 fallen service members is an essential priority,” Hegseth said via the aforementioned DOD statement, adding that the victims’ sacrifice is “the driving force” behind the special review panel.
“We owe it to them, to the American people, and to all who wear the uniform to comb through every detail of what happened, delivering full accountability and restoring trust,” he concluded.
Hegseth’s exercise is likely poised to delve into the decisions and miscalculations of then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, who promised Afghanistan would not end like Saigon but whose assurances on the strength of Afghanistan’s own forces and their ability to hold the country from an advancing Taliban proved faulty.
By Matthew Olay, DOD News