Press Releases

“I am devastated to learn that American servicemembers and Afghan civilians were killed and wounded in attacks in and around the Hamid Karzai International Airport. My heart and thoughts are with their families and friends.

“As has been evident in the intelligence briefings and public warnings about the threats to the safety and security of Americans and Afghans at the airport, the danger of this mission has been extreme, particularly from terrorist groups seeking to exploit a chaotic situation. While it is too early to draw any conclusions about those responsible, ISIS-K had a clear motivation to disrupt our efforts to evacuate many tens of thousands of people.

“Our immediate task remains to assure the safe withdrawal of American civilians, diplomatic personnel, and U.S. servicemembers and the evacuation of the Afghan partners who have served and sacrificed alongside us, as well other individuals at imminent risk, such as journalists, civil servants, women, and civil society advocates.

“Every effort must be made to prevent those responsible for this brutality from further victimizing innocent seeking safe harbor. We are in the midst of intense oversight of these matters in the House Intelligence Committee. As we await further updates, I remain deeply grateful to the U.S. servicemembers and others who are conducting our humanitarian mission skillfully and bravely, and will continue to do so.”

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