Originally published 2021-08-27.
On 26 August 2021, a suicide bomber blew himself up among crowds outside Abbey Gate at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. Thousands of Afghans were packed there, hoping to board evacuation flights after the Taliban had seized power. The blast killed 13 US service members and around 170 Afghan civilians, making it one of the deadliest single attacks of the entire war. The Islamic State’s Afghan affiliate, ISIS-K, claimed responsibility.
Early reports on the day spoke of two bombings and gunmen. Later investigations told a different and simpler story. This article sets out what happened, what was later corrected, and what followed.
What happened at Abbey Gate
The bomb went off at about 5:50 pm local time. Abbey Gate was one of the main entry points into the airport, and US Marines and British troops were screening people trying to get in. Crowds had gathered for days in a sewage canal running alongside the wall, waving documents at soldiers in the hope of being let through.
ISIS-K named the bomber as Abdul Rahman al-Logari and said he wore an explosive belt. According to Wikipedia’s summary of official and media reports, at least 182 people died, including 169 Afghan civilians and 13 Americans, and at least 150 more were injured. Two of the dead were British nationals and another was the child of a British national.
The 13 Americans were 11 Marines, a Navy sailor and an Army soldier; more than 20 other US troops were wounded. It was the deadliest day for US forces in Afghanistan since 2011.
What the first reports got wrong
In the confusion of the first hours, officials and journalists described two explosions, one at Abbey Gate and another near the nearby Baron Hotel, followed by gunfire. Early death tolls also started much lower, at about 60, before rising sharply over the following days.
The Pentagon later concluded that there had been only one bomber and one explosion, and that all of the casualties were caused by the blast rather than by gunmen. Eyewitnesses disputed part of that account: some described panicked shooting by troops after the explosion, and in 2024 CNN published video showing more gunfire than the military had acknowledged. The Pentagon stood by its findings.
The lesson is a familiar one for breaking news. First figures and descriptions are often wrong, and it can take weeks or months before a clear picture emerges.
Why so many people were at the airport
The Taliban entered Kabul on 15 August 2021, as US and NATO forces were completing their withdrawal after almost 20 years of war. President Ashraf Ghani fled, and the Western-backed government collapsed within hours.
Many Afghans who had worked with foreign forces, embassies, aid groups or the former government feared reprisals. Women, journalists, activists and members of minority groups also feared for their safety. Within days, the airport became the only practical way out, and huge crowds formed at its gates.
Western governments repeatedly warned in the days before the attack that a strike by ISIS-K was likely and urged people to stay away from the gates. The crowds remained, because for many people the risk of staying in Afghanistan seemed greater.
Who ISIS-K is
ISIS-K, or Islamic State Khorasan Province, is the regional branch of the Islamic State group, active mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan since about 2015. It is a bitter rival of the Taliban, which it accuses of being too moderate and of making deals with the United States.
The Taliban condemned the airport attack. Since taking power, they have fought a continuing campaign against ISIS-K, which has carried out bombings against Taliban officials, Shia Muslims, Hazaras and foreigners inside Afghanistan and has been linked to deadly attacks abroad.
How the evacuation ended
Leaders of the countries running evacuation flights insisted that the work would go on. Britain’s then prime minister Boris Johnson said the attack would not stop the airlift, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised not to forget those who could not be flown out.
The US-led airlift continued for four more days. In total about 123,000 people were flown out, the largest noncombatant evacuation in US military history. The last American C-17 transport plane left minutes before midnight Kabul time on 30 August, ahead of the 31 August withdrawal deadline. General Frank McKenzie, the top US commander for the region, admitted afterwards: “We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out.”
Many Afghans who had worked with Western forces were left behind and continued to seek ways out through neighbouring countries for years afterwards.
The drone strike and later justice
On 29 August, three days after the bombing, the US military launched a drone strike on a car in Kabul that it believed was carrying ISIS-K explosives. In fact, the driver was Zemari Ahmadi, an aid worker, and the strike killed 10 civilians, including seven children. The Pentagon later acknowledged that the victims were innocent and called the strike a tragic mistake.
The search for those responsible for the airport attack went on. In April 2023 the Taliban killed the ISIS-K cell leader US officials described as the main planner of the bombing. In March 2025 President Donald Trump announced that Pakistan had arrested a man involved in the plot. Mohammad Sharifullah, also known as Jafar, was flown to the United States and charged with providing material support to a terrorist organisation resulting in death; his trial opened in April 2026.
Why the attack still matters
For the families of the 13 Americans, the bombing has remained a focus of congressional hearings and political debate over how the withdrawal was planned. For Afghans, it is remembered as the day when people who had done nothing but try to reach safety were killed by the score in a canal outside an airport wall. Their names are far less well known, but they make up the overwhelming majority of the dead.
Sources: Wikipedia: 2021 Kabul airport attack; Military.com, 30 August 2021: Final troops withdraw from Afghanistan; contemporary coverage by Daily Mail, BBC News and The Guardian.
COMMENTS