Five years after the deadly Abbey Gate attack in Kabul, US President Donald Trump has criticized the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan in a proclamation marking the fifth anniversary of the bombing.

Trump declared August 26, 2026, a day of commemoration for the 13 US service members killed in the attack.

According to the proclamation, at 5:36 p.m. on August 26, 2021, an ISIS member detonated a body-worn bomb after moving into a crowd at Abbey Gate. The blast killed 13 US service members, wounded 45 others and injured more than 160 civilians.

Trump paid tribute to the fallen troops, listing their names and honoring their sacrifice and service.

He said US forces had spent 20 years fighting across Afghanistan to defeat terrorism and remove the Taliban from power. Trump accused former President Joe Biden of squandering those gains through what he described as a rushed and poorly executed withdrawal, calling it one of the worst military disasters in US history.

The proclamation said US forces withdrew from Bagram Airfield in the middle of the night on July 2, 2021, without notifying the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. Trump said the decision resulted in the loss of the largest US military base in Afghanistan, billions of dollars in military equipment and strategic advantages for remaining US forces.

Trump said the Taliban seized Bagram within weeks and released thousands of prisoners, including people he described as terrorists and criminals. He added that Kabul subsequently fell, forcing US troops to carry out a difficult evacuation from Hamid Karzai International Airport amid the collapse of the Afghan government.

“As Commander in Chief, I will always put America First and defend our sovereignty,” Trump said.

He also said he was proud that the ISIS member responsible for the Abbey Gate attack had been apprehended and brought to face justice in the United States.

Trump pledged continued support for US service members and military families and said the failures that contributed to the Abbey Gate attack must not be repeated.

He concluded by renewing what he called America’s “sacred promise” to the 13 fallen service members and their families: to remember their names, honor their memory and never forget the price they paid for their country.

The US Department of War says an ongoing investigation into the deadly 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul has uncovered previously undiscovered classified documents that are now being examined by a special review panel.

Sean Parnell, Senior Advisor to the Secretary of War, announced the development in a social media post marking the fifth anniversary of the bombing at Abbey Gate of Kabul’s then-Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The attack killed 13 US service members and approximately 170 Afghan civilians.

According to Parnell, his team recently recovered highly relevant classified documents that should have been disclosed but were found stored in safes and hidden in places where they would not be easily discovered.

He said that after the documents were recovered and reviewed by the special panel, it became clear why someone may have attempted to conceal them. However, Parnell said he would not prematurely reveal the contents of the classified material.

“I’m not going to give you a convenient version of the truth, nor will I give you a rushed one,” Parnell said, stressing that investigators would follow the evidence wherever it leads and would not accept incomplete answers.

The special review panel was established last year, when Secretary of War Pete Hegseth appointed Parnell to lead the investigation. Hegseth said the review was being conducted on behalf of the American people and the families of those killed in the attack.

The panel’s work follows a supplemental review by US Central Command in April 2024, which upheld the findings of the military’s original investigation and concluded that the attack could not have been prevented at the tactical level.

While Parnell did not provide a timeline for completing the review, he pledged that the investigation would be thorough and would provide the full picture of how and why decisions surrounding the attack were made.

“The American people and the families who sacrificed everything are owed the full picture,” he said, promising to continue the investigation until it is completed.

A 16-member delegation from Uzbekistan’s Jizzakh province, led by Deputy Governor Bahrom Yusupov, has visited Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province to discuss expanding bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

The delegation met with Kunduz provincial officials and local business representatives during a meeting at the provincial governor’s office.

Kunduz Deputy Governor Mawlawi Habib Rahman Sohaib welcomed the delegation and discussed ways to strengthen economic ties and expand joint trade between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

Sohaib invited Uzbek and other foreign investors to invest in various sectors in Kunduz, assuring them that the provincial authorities are prepared to provide the necessary facilities and support for investors.

He also called on the Uzbek side to make it easier for Afghan traders to obtain visas in order to facilitate and accelerate trade between the two countries.

Bahrom Yusupov thanked Kunduz officials and traders for their warm welcome, saying Uzbekistan is interested in increasing its investment in Afghanistan.

He said the delegation’s visit was aimed at further strengthening trade relations between the two countries and added that Uzbek businesses would seek opportunities to invest jointly with Afghan traders in Kunduz in the future.

The visit comes as Kunduz plays an important economic, agricultural and transit role in northern Afghanistan, with direct and indirect trade routes linking the province to Central Asian countries, particularly Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.