Biden honors service members killed during Afghanistan withdrawal

President Joe Biden honored 13 service members who died during an attack while the U.S. was withdrawing from Afghanistan two years ago in a statement Saturday.

A bomb by the Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Aug. 26, 2021, killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghan civilians.

“Today, Jill and I remember and mourn these 13 brave American service members and the more than 100 innocent Afghan civilians who were killed in the horrific terrorist attack at Abbey Gate,” Biden said in the statement. “Many more were injured and will carry the impacts of their wounds and the horrors of that day for the rest of their lives.”

Biden and his administration have received heavy criticism over the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan from Republicans. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he thought Biden should be impeached for the handling of the exit at the time. 

Also honoring those who died in the attack two years ago, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he ordered the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be put at half-mast in a post on X Saturday.

“Two years ago today, we tragically lost 13 brave servicemen and women in Afghanistan,” McCarthy’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter, read. “I have directed the flags at the U.S. Capitol to be lowered to half-staff in honor of these American heroes.”