Aug. 26 is the fourth anniversary of the Abbey Gate terrorist attack, which took the lives of 13 US military members at a civilian gate of the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
President Donald Trump formally declared a day of commemoration, marking the anniversary with a proclamation he signed in a ceremony Aug. 25 in front of the families of the military members killed at Abbey Gate.
A suicide bomber whom the Taliban had freed from Bagram prison killed the following people, according to the proclamation: Staff Sergeant Darin T. Hoover, USMC; Sergeant Johanny Rosario Pichardo, USMC; Sergeant Nicole L. Gee, USMC; Corporal Hunter Lopez, USMC; Corporal Daegan W. Page, USMC; Corporal Humberto A. Sanchez, USMC; Lance Corporal David L. Espinoza, USMC; Lance Corporal Jared M. Schmitz, USMC; Lance Corporal Rylee J. McCollum, USMC; Lance Corporal Dylan R. Merola, USMC; Lance Corporal Kareem M. Nikoui, USMC; Petty Officer Third Class Maxton W. Soviak, USN; and Staff Sergeant Ryan C. Knauss, USA.
“We join in grief with the families who senselessly lost a loved one, and we renew our solemn pledge to our 13 fallen patriots — we will never forget you; we will never forsake you; and your memory will live on forever,” the proclamation states.
According to an April 2024 report on the Department of Defense website regarding a review the U.S. Army Central Command ordered, about 170 Afghan civilians were also killed in the blast, which was perpetrated by Abdul Rahman al-Logari.
“As our Nation solemnly marks 4 years since the attack at Abbey Gate,” the proclamation continues, “we honor the memory of the 13 brave souls and every military service member to ever die in the line of duty — and we renew our resolve to protect American lives, defend American interests, and uphold American sovereignty.”
As CatholicVote reported on Aug. 26, 2024, Trump condemned the Biden-Harris administration’s 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal in remarks he gave at the 2024 National Guard Association General Conference & Exhibition in Detroit. He said his administration would “get resignations of every single senior official who touched the Afghanistan calamity to be on my desk at noon on inauguration day.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced May 20, 2025, that he has asked Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and Senior Advisor Sean Parnell, who served in Afghanistan, to review the Abbey Gate investigations the U.S. Central Command made under the Biden administration.
In connection with the attack, the federal government has charged Mohammad Sharifullah, also known as “Jafar,” a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), with providing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death, the Department of Justice announced in March if convicted, Sharifullah can face up to life in prison.
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Author: Mary Stroka
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