McCaul: U.S. Knew when Kabul Attack Would Happen, Didn’t Strike ISIS-K in Hotel Where They Were Planning It

During an interview with the “Fox News Rundown” podcast released on Monday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) previewed his meeting with the families of the 13 American soldiers killed in the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport in 2021 and stated that there is intelligence that the U.S. “knew, to the very day,” when the suicide bombing was going to happen, “and they asked the Taliban to target ISIS-K in a hotel where they were plotting the bombing, the Taliban refused, an airstrike was called in by the intelligence community, and, of course, that was denied as well.”

McCaul said, [relevant remarks begin around 6:10] “Well, we’ve been conducting a very active investigation. I’ll be meeting with the Gold Star families of the thirteen servicemembers who were killed, the parents. It’s very sad. But we’re going to hear their stories. But we’re also going to give them new information. We’ll have the sniper whose team had the suicide bomber in their sights, but were not given permission to engage the target, which then led to the bombing that killed or wounded 170 both Americans and [Afghans], very tragic for the families, because it could have been prevented. We also have new evidence that there was intelligence that they knew, to the very day, when this was going to happen and they asked the Taliban to target ISIS-K in a hotel where they were plotting the bombing, the Taliban refused, an airstrike was called in by the intelligence community, and, of course, that was denied as well.”

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