(NewsNation) — The families of 13 service members killed in a suicide bombing during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan four years ago are demanding the government provide some accountability for how the withdrawal was handled.
The bombing took place at an entry point to Kabul’s airport known as Abbey Gate on August 26, 2021, killing service members and Afghans alike. Earlier this week, President Trump signed a proclamation commemorating the date of the attack in honor of the fallen service members and their families. This comes amid ongoing investigations by the Trump administration into the handling of the withdrawal under the Biden administration. President Trump has repeatedly accused Biden of allowing the attack to happen.
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“I remember those two Marines standing at my door. And what an empty, horrifying feeling that was,” Darin Hoover said.
Darin and Kelly Hoover’s son, Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, is one of the service members who was killed. Speaking with NewsNation at Arlington National Cemetery, where their son is now buried, the Barnetts say they’ve found support from other Gold Star Families.
“Of all the people in the world, they’re the ones that know what I’m feeling. What I’m going through. Know what that heartache is like,” Kelly Barnett said. “Things have slowed down. … I have to process this.”
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Four years on, many of the families who lost loved ones in the attack at Abbey Gate are continuing to seek out answers and ask for military leadership and government officials to be held accountable for the decisions made regarding the execution of the withdrawal.
Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that a Defense Department special review panel looking into the bombing should be ready to present its findings sometime in mid-2026. Speaking at the White House during President Trump’s proclamation signing on August 26, Hegseth said justice for the families of these fallen service members is an “essential priority.”
“America deserves answers as far as what happened in Afghanistan; the military needs to answer for what happened in Afghanistan,” Hegseth said.
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These families are not alone in their grief over the withdrawal. Fazila, an Afghan immigrant, who NewsNation is only identifying by her first name, said the Taliban’s return to power upended her life in Afghanistan, with women quickly being banned from school and work.
“When you don’t have job, don’t have school, don’t have university, what do you do? Life is stuck. And get depression,” she said.
While Fazila said she was eventually able to secure a special immigrant visa that got her out of the country via her work with USAID, her mother and siblings remain in Afghanistan.
“They are worried about me, actually. And I am worried about them. Because I am alone here,” she said.
Thousands of special immigrant visa-eligible Afghans are believed to still be working to get out of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Afghans who have made it to the U.S. now face the risk of deportation as Trump continues to push for the removal of temporary protected status for many immigrants.
