The father of a U.S. marine who was killed in the suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport says President Biden “turned his back” on his son.
Steve Nikoui told The Daily Beast that he found out his son Kareem Nikoui was killed in the attack when Marines arrived at his home to deliver the news around 7:15 p.m. Thursday evening.
He told the news outlet that he’s still in shock about what transpired.
“I haven’t gone to bed all night,” Steve Nikoui said. “I’m still in shock. I haven’t been able to grasp everything that’s going on.”
He told The Daily Beast that he wants to “respect the office” of the president but feels Biden let his son down.
“They sent my son over there as a paper pusher and then had the Taliban outside providing security,” he said. “I blame my own military leaders. … Biden turned his back on him. That’s it.”
The U.S. has not yet named the 13 U.S. service members who were killed in the suicide bombing outside Kabul’s airport, though their names have started to circulate on social media. More than 100 Afghans also died in the attack, for which ISIS-K militants claimed responsibility.
Families of the victims began speaking out on Friday through social media and interviews with news outlets.
Brittany Jones Barnett, the aunt of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover of Utah, who also died in the attack, wrote on social media that the world lost a “true light.”
“The world has lost a true light. Our hearts are broken. Shock, disbelief, horror, sadness, sorrow, anger and grief,” she wrote, according to Reuters.