You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Afghanistan
US Marine 15 feet away from Kabul ISIS-K suicide bomber who killed 13 service personnel says gunmen opened fire from the roof after the explosion and a gun battle ensued
2021-09-16
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] Heroes, all. I know it’s the Daily Mail, but I recommend reading the whole thing — in Reader View if necessary.
  • US Marine Major Ben Sutphen gave the first eyewitness account of the suicide bomb explosion at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul last month

  • Sutphen was 15 feet away from the explosion trying to disperse the crowd

  • He is one of 15 wounded service men who survived the horiffic attack

  • 13 US service men and 170 Afghans were killed on August 26 in what was one of the deadliest days in Afghanistan in the last decade

  • Sutphen said that the Marines had been warned with what Sutphen described as 'the most direct indications of a threat at Abbey Gate'

  • But he claimed that it was 'nearly impossible' to identify the suspect in the 'very dense' crowd of thousands at the airport entrance

Sutphen was the operations officer of his battalion and insisted that the Marines took every possible safety precaution on the day of the attack.

He explained that they had set up 'armed aerial surveillance overhead at the time' and 'had electronic countermeasures for improvised explosive device all along the corridor that would try to eliminate any electronically triggered device.'
Related:
Hamid Karzai International Airport: 2021-09-13 A-10 Tankbusters roar overhead and thousands of mourners line streets as body of Marine killed in Kabul attack makes final journey back to Indiana hometown, ditto in Jackson, WY for their Marine
Hamid Karzai International Airport: 2021-09-06 Afghanistan Return to Normalcy Round up: Domestic flights return to Kabul, long bank lines, Talibs say ‘Invest!’
Hamid Karzai International Airport: 2021-09-02 We had 'kill shot' (on airport bomber) but didn't take it? Report makes bombshell allegation
Related:
Abbey Gate: 2021-09-09 US troops killed in Kabul airport bombing awarded Purple Hearts
Abbey Gate: 2021-09-02 It Gets Worse
Abbey Gate: 2021-08-31 Pentagon Had Advanced Intel on 'Mass Casualty Attack' at Kabul Airport Attack But Failed to Stop It: Report
Posted by:Skidmark

#5  US personnel on the lookout for the suicide bomber, but apparently had no counter-sniper or aerial suppression capability available.

Seriously, can't anyone play this game? This isn't newly-discovered rocket science. Julius Caesar would be familiar with the idea of keeping the barbarian Charlies outside the wire.
Posted by: SteveS   2021-09-16 13:31  

#4  No officers among the dead. Which leads to the perennial question: Where were the officers?
Posted by: Matt   2021-09-16 12:29  

#3  I dare you ISIS there are 30 of us marines within suicide belt range with no blast walls.
Fortunately, only half of them died because of bullet proof vests.
Posted by: boomerc   2021-09-16 04:38  

#2  Sutphen was the operations officer of his battalion and insisted that the Marines took every possible safety precaution on the day of the attack.

No you did not.

But he claimed that it was 'nearly impossible' to identify the suspect in the 'very dense' crowd of thousands at the airport entrance

There should have been a football field sized buffer at the very least between you and the crowd.
Posted by: Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589   2021-09-16 01:05  

#1  A complex attack consisting of small arms fire (SAF) as suspected.

Suicide bomber detonated and rooftop 'snipers' engaged their pre-designated targets. US personnel on the lookout for the suicide bomber, but apparently had no counter-sniper or aerial suppression capability available.

And the official 15-6 investigation of what took place, how is that coming along ?



Posted by: Besoeker   2021-09-16 00:58  

00:00