Pentagon to release reviews on US withdrawal from Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (CNN): The Pentagon is sending to Congress its after-action reports on the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Abbey Gate attack at the Kabul airport during the evacuation in which 13 US service members were killed.

The Defense Department will make the classified reports available to Congress electronically, so members will be able to log on to a digital portal and access it Thursday.

There will also be an unclassified summary that the White House will release separately.

Multiple federal agencies conducted reviews following the chaotic and bloody withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Their release was initially targeted to the one-year anniversary of the pullout, but were delayed as the agencies completed their work.

Following the US withdrawal in August 2021, the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban swiftly returned to power.

A bombing outside the Kabul International Airport’s Abbey Gate also killed 13 US service members – 11 Marines, 1 soldier and 1 sailor – along with approximately 170 Afghans.

President Joe Biden ordered up the reviews to determine what went wrong.

“We will take a look at every aspect of this from top to bottom,” he said.

After taking control of the US House of Representatives, Republicans have also begun looking into the Afghanistan withdrawal, requesting documents and communications are part of their probe.