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US flags lowered to half-staff to honor victims of Kabul attack

Biden Afghanistan
Posted at 6:17 PM, Aug 26, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-26 19:18:13-04

On Thursday, US flags flown at the White House and federal buildings will be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims who died in Kabul.

During the White House briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki said flags would be lowered on Thursday and stay lowered until sunset on Aug. 30, “in honor of the victims of the senseless acts of violence in Kabul."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also ordered the flags be lowered at the U.S. Capitol.

"Today, I ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at half-staff in honor of the U.S. Servicemembers & others killed in the terrorist attack outside of the Kabul airport," Pelosi said.

This comes after 13 U.S. service members were killed and 15 more were injured in a series of explosions near the Kabul airport on Thursday.

When asked during the briefing if President Joe Biden had spoken to the families of the service members killed in Afghanistan, Psaki said the president had not reached out because the next-of-kin notification process still being underway.

She added that President Biden "will do everything he can to honor" the fallen service members when asked if he'd travel to Dover, Delaware.