Updated Shaheen Statement on Explosions in Kabul

(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, issued the following statement following President Biden’s address to the American people in response to multiple explosions in Kabul on Thursday, which resulted in numerous U.S. and Afghan casualties:

“My thoughts are with the families of U.S. troops whose lives were brutally taken and those who have been injured in the line of duty, as well as the innocent Afghan civilians murdered in the terrorist attacks today. The devastating attacks outside of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul underscore the increasingly dangerous and fluid security conditions on the ground in Afghanistan. President Biden’s remarks to the American people tonight were necessary and I support his commitment to hunt these terrorists down and make them pay. Our heroic service members and the innocent Afghan men, women and children slaughtered in these barbaric attacks deserve justice,” said Shaheen.

Shaheen continued, “As the U.S. continues its mission, it is paramount that the administration expend every available resource to stabilize the security situation and speed up evacuations to get U.S. citizens, troops and government personnel, as well as our coalition partners and Afghan allies, out of harm’s way. We are up against the clock and time is running out. I urge the Biden administration to continue working with our international partners on the ground to determine the best course of action to swiftly complete evacuations. I join all Americans in expressing my deepest gratitude to our service members and diplomats who are risking their lives to fulfill the U.S. mission. My office remains in contact with officials at the U.S. Departments of Defense and State and I will continue to closely monitor developments out of Kabul.”