Video advertising feedback to watch the United States Marine Corps. American GoPro shot challenging the Pentagon's description of the Kabul airport attack 04:56-Source: CNN CNN The CNN report revealed that after the suicide attack in the last days of American evacuation from Kabul, there were many more gunshots than the Pentagon admitted. The report includes a video obtained by CNN, which was shot by a marine's GoPro camera, and the complete video has not been made public before.
The letter was sent by members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, and posed a series of sharp questions to the Pentagon, involving the Pentagon's investigation into the deadliest incident in Afghanistan in decades-a cruel and bloody end of the longest war in the United States. CNN reported that five of the eight members of Congress were veterans with experience in the war in Afghanistan, and they urged Austin to "explain in the strongest terms the differences between the findings of the Central Command and this new report".
The Pentagon's two investigations into the attack mainly focused on the gunfire after the explosion. Some marines told military investigators that they felt shot or fired by themselves, and 19 Afghan survivors told CNN in 2022 that they were shot by themselves or witnessed Afghans being shot. However, two Pentagon investigations (released in February 2022 and last month respectively) concluded that the only shooting incident afterwards came from American and British troops, and three times occurred "almost simultaneously" without hitting anyone.
CNN related article exclusive report: New evidence challenges the Pentagon's statement that there was a terrorist attack when the United States withdrew from Afghanistan. In their letter, members of Congress said, "It is not clear what caused the Central Command data point where three shootings occurred almost simultaneously", which "directly contradicts the video clip obtained by CNN, which shows 11 shooting incidents in the past four minutes." They added that after CNN released the GoPro video, the Pentagon assured the House Foreign Affairs Committee that they had not seen the video before it was released, but it did not contradict their findings.
"Although we appreciate the Central Command's investigation into the attack on the monastery gate, nearly three years later, we still have the same questions as the American soldiers captured in the CNN video, including who is shooting, the Taliban or another hostile force. Therefore, we ask you to clarify the volume, incidence and source of gunshots at the scene, "the congressman wrote.
Members of Congress such as Mike volz, Darrell Issa, Tim Burchett, Brian Masters, Ricky mccollum, Keith Self, Corey Mills and chris smith asked investigators to take further action. The latest report of CNN includes an interview with Dr. Said Ahmadi, former director of a large hospital in Kabul. He said that he and his staff took out bullets from the patients in the incident, and more than 70 dead people in their hospital had gunshot wounds. The letter asked why Pentagon investigators didn't talk to Dr. Ahmadi or any other Afghans. The Pentagon said that all reports of gunshot wounds were wrong, and witnesses who recalled mass shootings (whether directed at Marines or Afghan civilians) were suffering from concussion or traumatic brain injury.
"Finally, why did the reporter have this video and the news department didn't? Are there any other videos in the department that have not been made public? If so, please release such footage immediately and confirm that the video recording known by the department no longer exists. "The truth must come out."
In a statement, the Office of the Secretary of Defense told CNN that, like all congressional letters, it would reply directly to the member who wrote the letter. "We pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of the 13 soldiers killed in Abigail, and continue to make every effort to ensure that our Venus family gets the support and information they need. This will always be a sacred obligation of the Department of Defense, "said James Adams, a spokesman for the Department of Defense.
This video image released by the Ministry of National Defense shows that on August 26, 2021, after a suicide bomber detonated the explosion, the US Marine Corps was at the scene around the monastery gate outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Department of Defense/Associated Press parents accuse Pentagon of misleading At a time of increasing congressional scrutiny of the attack, the parents of seven marines who died in this incident—jared Schmitz, humberto Sanchez, Taylor Hoover, Nicole Gee, Karim Nikui, Hunter Lopez and Riley mccollum—accused the Pentagon of misleading them.
"As parents, we always suspected that we had not been told the whole truth about the murder of our child at the monastery gate on August 26th, 21st. In a statement sent to CNN, the Venus family said: "The newly discovered new video released by CNN directly refutes and exposes the lies in the latest briefing we got from the Central Command officials last month."
"We are angry at the betrayal of Biden's government. This is just the beginning for us to expose the cover-up that has happened and is still happening. The Biden administration wants us to walk away silently, but we won't! " They added.
General Eric Curilla, the new commander of the Central Command, ordered a supplementary review of the military investigation into the incident in 2022 last September, and informed the families of the dead soldiers of the investigation results last month. The focus is mainly on whether the "Islamic State" -K suicide bombers can be stopped, and it is determined that the attack "cannot be prevented at the tactical level". These families have long believed that more measures could have been taken to stop the "Islamic State" -K suicide bombers.
A video released by the Ministry of National Defense shows that on August 26, 2021, before the suicide bombing outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, the US Marines were at the entrance of the monastery. A military investigation into the deadly attack during the evacuation of Afghanistan concluded that a suicide bomber carrying 20 pounds of explosives with ball bearings acted alone, and the deaths of more than 170 Afghans and 13 American soldiers were inevitable. U.S. Department of Defense/Associated Press related article The supplementary investigation by the U.S. military into the deadly attack on Kabul airport concluded that the troops did not see the bomber before the attack. On the occasion of the publication of this letter and statement, the Central Command released more than 1,000 pages of witness testimony and evidence under supplementary examination. This 1214-page report provides various descriptions after the explosion, some of which seem to support the conclusions of the supplementary review. There is also some evidence that contains the testimony of witnesses who have never seen before about shooting afterwards, which seems to be inconsistent with the conclusions of the two investigations.
Two obvious Marine Corps accounts after the explosion provided a similar description. An American tried to load a 0.50 caliber heavy machine gun in a sniper tower overlooking the explosion site, and then apparently did not shoot. The names of American personnel have been edited.
A serviceman recalled: "Marines on the ground fired at the explosion site. But I didn't see anyone shooting at us. " He added that the gunfire lasted "maybe a few minutes", and then he recalled hearing: "Some Gy sergeants (artillery sergeants) shouted at the tower, saying that we were firing with light weapons, finding them and then killing them. I'm not sure of his name. "
Another witness said that when two bullets hit the window in front of him, he was in the sniper tower above the explosion site, and the third bullet almost hit him.
On August 26, 2021, before the attack, Afghans who wanted to leave Afghanistan waited outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. The evidence also suggests that the Pentagon may have more video materials than it publicly admits. A serviceman told the commentary that nine drones were running over the airport immediately after the explosion, and he observed these drones for three hours. The Pentagon released a five-minute edited footage of the aftermath. The report also said that shortly after the explosion, "ISR" appeared on the scene-probably a surveillance camera. Not all these clips have been published. In another report, it seems that a marine handed over a GoPro to the supplementary review team.
Lieutenant Colonel Rob Lodewick, the public affairs adviser to the supplementary review team, said that the two investigations have been "focused to the maximum extent" to provide "transparent, detailed and conclusive explanations" to the families of the dead Americans, the US military and the public. "Any accusation that [military officials] deliberately tried to mislead or deceive is absolutely wrong."
Introduction Abbey Gate Mom_00023606.png Video Related Video The mother of a US Marine who was killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul airport in Afghanistan in 2021 told Jack that she didn't really believe the latest response from the Pentagon. However, he added that investigators "recognize the possibility of new information appearing over time" and that the Central Command "welcomes any other available information and images to help ensure a comprehensive understanding of the attack on Abigail from as many angles as possible."
Lodewick pointed out that the review team collected 4,000 pages of evidence and "considered all the information provided by more than 190 interviews and concluded that there was no complex attack." He added that all "images, including personal GoPro lenses provided voluntarily, have been thoroughly inspected" and processed "in accordance with the Ministry of National Defense and service policies".