Pentagon upgrades awards for Marines who defended Kabul airport during suicide bombing

The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it is upgrading the awards for a group of Marines who defended Kabul's international airport as it came under a suicide attack during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"The Marines at Abbey Gate were positioned in the direct blast zone with minimal cover, fully aware of an imminent suicide attack, yet they held their ground to keep evacuation operations running," spokesperson Sean Parnell, who is also leading a review of the chaotic 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan, said in a statement.

"Their actions that day were heroic. The original awards did not reflect that reality. Today’s upgrades correct that injustice," he added.

Parnell did not specify the names of the Marines, nor how many are seeing their valor awards upgraded by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

A suicide bombing on Aug. 26, 2021, claimed by the ISIS (Daesh) terror group at Kabul's international airport killed 13 American troops and 170 Afghan civilians.

The US presence in Afghanistan, which began in October 2001, came to an end after 20 years with the withdrawal of American troops in 2021. The Biden administration is blamed by Republican lawmakers for the “failed” withdrawal and the chaos at the airport.

The US withdrawal was marred by the collapse of the internationally-recognized Afghan government, which was quickly overrun by Taliban forces as international forces left the country.