Biden Administration Identifies Abbey Gate Bomber, Terrorist Released in Afghanistan Exit

The Biden administration on Monday confirmed the identity of an ISIS-K suicide bomber who killed several U.S. service members and scores of Afghans in 2021.

The Department of Defense (DOD) identified the terrorist as Abdul Rahman al-Logari. Al-Logari detonated a bomb outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey Gate in the final days of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, killing 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.

“With access to analysis from across the intelligence community, we were able to identify the Abbey Gate person-borne IED bomber as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an [ISIS-K] member since 2016,” an Army official from the joint supplemental review team said, according to the DOD.

The DOD identified al-Logari for the first time in a supplemental review of an investigation into the terror attack on Abbey Gate. U.S. Army Central Command (CENTCOM) completed and released the results of the review on Monday, confirming al-Logari’s identity.

Al-Logari was one of thousands of prisoners and detainees released from Bagram Air Base by the Taliban after U.S. personnel evacuated the base in July 2021 ahead of the full military withdrawal. The Taliban set al-Logari free in mid-August 2021. The ISIS-K terrorist carried out his deadly attack at Abbey Gate on August 26.

As the U.S. completed its withdrawal from Hamid Karzai International Airport, the U.S. military turned over security for Kabul to the Taliban.

The U.S. evacuated Afghanistan in a rush to hit a deadline at the end of August. U.S. officials were concerned about volatility in the region and what the Taliban may do if the U.S. did not meet the deadline. In its haste, the U.S. abandoned billions of dollars worth of equipment in Afghanistan.

The DOD said the review did not change the original finding of the report that the attack on Abbey Gate was not preventable. ISIS-K had multiple suicide bombers available and would have been able to carry out the attack with or without al-Logari.

“This supports the conclusion that the attack at Abbey Gate was not preventable at the tactical level,” an official said, according to the DOD.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) is chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has led the House investigation into the Abbey Gate terror attack. The Biden administration opened the supplemental review into Abbey Gate in response to testimony given to McCaul’s committee.

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“This report confirmed what witnesses have told this committee: the Taliban was executing civilians outside the airport. The executions caused mass chaos around the airport as large and desperate crowds of civilians sought to flee, creating a deadly operating environment for U.S. servicemembers at the gates amid significant ISIS-K threats,” McCaul said in a statement. “The report also finally reveals the identity of the Abbey Gate bomber as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an ISIS-K terrorist who was freed from the Bagram prison by the Taliban.”

“With this report revealing the Biden administration has been sitting on critical information about what happened during the emergency evacuation from Afghanistan, it is clear there are many more questions to be answered. I am absolutely determined to see this investigation through to completion and will leave no stone unturned,” McCaul stated.