The Abbey Gate

On August 26, 2021 at Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, United States military personnel were involved in Operation Allies Refuge—a hastily organized evacuation mission of the city of Kabul after Taliban forces had seized control of the city and Bagram Air Base, where U.S. forces had been headquartered before evacuating eight weeks earlier. Under Taliban control, chaos had ensued in the city of Bagram. Thousands of Afghans sought to flee, along with remaining U.S. citizens and government personnel. While American military units attempted to oversee the evacuations and provide security at the airport, a suicide bomber detonated his vest amid the crowd of evacuees near the Abbey Gate, killing 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghan civilians, and injuring more than 140 more.