President Biden honors 13 killed during withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021

Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Saturday marked two years since 13 service members and more than 100 Afghan civilians were killed in a bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden remembered the victims in a statement Saturday, saying their lives were "stolen far too soon."

"We will forever honor the memory of the 13 service members who were stolen far too soon from their families, loved ones, and brothers- and sisters-in-arms, while performing a noble mission on behalf of our nation," Biden said.

"We can never repay the incredible sacrifice of any of the 2,461 U.S. service members who lost their lives over two decades of war in Afghanistan or the 20,744 who were wounded."

The Biden administration has been criticized by Republicans for the withdrawal, though a report by the U.S. State Department and the Pentagon directed some of the blame toward former President Donald Trump earlier this year.

"The departing Trump Administration had left the Biden Administration with a date for withdrawal, but no plan for executing it," the report to Congress said.

"And after four years of neglect -- and in some cases deliberate degradation -- crucial systems, offices, and agency functions that would be necessary for a safe and orderly departure were in disrepair."