US rejects report questioning Kabul attack probe, says 'no proof anyone hit by gunfire'

The US Defence Department has rejected the report by CNN, stating that its probe has found no definitive evidence that anyone was killed by gunfire in the Kabul airport attack, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said during a press briefing on Wednesday (local time).

A CNN investigation has questioned the results of an official report claiming that no people were killed by gunfire during the suicide bombing at Kabul Airport in August 2021.

"The investigation we believe was comprehensive. It was credible and it was quite definitive," Kirby said as quoted by Sputnik News Agency. "The investigation found no definitive proof that anyone was ever hit or killed by gunfire, either US or Afghan, and I think I'd leave it at that," he said.

On Friday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said that the Pentagon investigation into the suicide bombing found that 170 Afghan civilians and 13 US soldiers had died of a single blast with no casualties from gunfire. The commander added that ball bearings from the blast caused injuries that looked like gunshot injured.

CNN said it interviewed 70 witnesses and families of the dead and reviewed medical records, videos and photos, the news agency reported, adding the report which stated that 19 nineteen people told the news agency that they saw others being hit by gunfire or were hit in crossfire themselves.

The report also cites forensic blast analysts as saying that a single human-borne explosive could not have led to the injuries and deaths of so many people, while others maintained it was possible.

The bombing occurred on August 26 amid the evacuation of US nationals and at-risk Afghans from Kabul airport.

( With inputs from ANI )