Eleven Marines were killed in a Thursday attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul Afghanistan, the Marine Corps confirmed Friday afternoon.
It increases the official Marine Corps death toll, which was at 10 Marines and reported Thursday evening by Marine Corps officials.
Marine Corps Times has not yet confirmed why this eleventh Marine was not in the initial report.
In total, 13 U.S. service members, including one soldier and one Navy corpsman, were killed. It is estimated at least 170 total people, mostly Afghan locals, were killed in the attack, which started when a suicide bomber approached a group of Marines at the Abbey Gate in the Kabul airport.
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“We continue to mourn the loss of these Marines and pray for their families,” Marine Corps spokesman Maj. James Stenger said in a statement on Friday. “Our focus now is taking care of the families of those who were killed and caring for our injured.”
The Corps is currently informing the families of the 11 Marines killed and will release their names 24 hours after all families have been properly notified, the Corps said.
With 13 total service members killed, this was the deadliest attack in Afghanistan since the 2011 shooting down of Extortion 17, a CH-47D Chinook. Thirty Americans were killed that day.
More than 2,000 Marines have been rushed to Kabul, Afghanistan, over the past two weeks as the Taliban quickly conquered the nation while U.S. troops were withdrawing from the country.
The Marines mostly came from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force–Crisis Response–Central Command.
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Troy Black tweeted out a statement Thursday, expressing his condolences for the Marines who died.
“Though their loss was in great service to our Nation, I join every Marine and Sailor who vows to carry on their legacy and remember their sacrifice,” Black said.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger said in a statement, “These fallen heroes answered the call to go into harm’s way to do the honorable work of helping others. We are proud of their service and deeply saddened by their loss.”
