On Sunday, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden attended the dignified transfer of the 13 American service members killed in a pair of explosions near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. The president and first lady flew in Air Force One to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware where they met with some of the families of the 13 service members killed in the attack. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley were also present for the transfer.
Biden said in a written statement: “The 13 service members that we lost were heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our highest American ideals and while saving the lives of others. Their bravery and selflessness has enabled more than 117,000 people at risk to reach safety thus far. May God protect our troops and all those standing watch in these dangerous days.”
The families of 11 of the service members killed in the attack by the terror group known as Islamic State-Khorasan Province allowed media to document the event while the remains of the other two service members were transferred out of public view. The 13 service members killed included 11 Marines, one Army soldier and one Navy corpsman, ranging in age from 20 to 31.
On Sunday, the United States launched a defensive drone strike on a suspected car bomb. Biden said in a statement that the strike wouldn’t be the last and U.S. forces “will continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay.”
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