Pentagon officials claimed on Wednesday they have uncovered classified documents that were “hidden away in safes where they would not be found,” shedding new light on the chaotic final days of the U.S. war in Afghanistan five years ago, though they declined to disclose the specifics of their discoveries.
Sean Parnell, chair of the Pentagon’s Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel, revealed the finding in a video message released on social media. “The deeper we look, the more there is to look at,” Parnell said. “We are finding things that we did not expect.”
Parnell stated that his team had “recovered highly relevant classified documents, material that should have been disclosed, stashed, and hidden away in safes where they would not be found. And after the team reviewed these documents, it became clear why someone tried to hide them.” He did not specify which administration concealed the materials or provide a timeline for releasing further details.
The announcement came hours before Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was scheduled to participate in a Pentagon ceremony to upgrade valor awards for service members who served at Kabul International Airport during the final days of the withdrawal. The August 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Abbey Gate killed 13 American service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians, marking one of the deadliest moments of the 20-year conflict.
Hegseth directed the Pentagon to launch a comprehensive review of the 2021 withdrawal in May 2025, tasking Parnell—a Pentagon spokesman and Afghanistan War veteran—to lead the special panel. The review has examined prior investigations into the withdrawal and interviewed key figures including former Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley. In April 2026, Parnell announced that the panel had reviewed more than 9 million documents drawn from multiple agencies.
The end of the Afghanistan war, and particularly the final days when American troops mounted a chaotic evacuation from Kabul, has remained a focal point of Republican criticism of former President Joe Biden’s foreign policy decisions. GOP lawmakers have accused Biden of withdrawing too abruptly, endangering troops and handing control to the Taliban. Democratic supporters argue the withdrawal ended two decades of open-ended military missions that did little to improve national security.
In April, Parnell announced plans to upgrade valor awards given to troops serving at the airport in August 2021, arguing that the Biden administration had “inappropriately downgraded” earlier honors to “more accurately reflect the extreme risk” the troops faced. Parnell said on Wednesday that service members who served in Afghanistan “are owed the full picture of how and why those decisions were made, and we’re going to give it to them.”
Democratic lawmakers have questioned the intentions of the reviews and criticized the slant of Republican-led hearings on Capitol Hill. House Republicans have accused Biden administration officials of ignoring intelligence reports in the days before the Abbey Gate bombing, a charge that military officials have rebuffed.
Sources
- Politico — Pentagon officials’ claim of discovering hidden classified documents, Sean Parnell’s video statement, the review panel’s establishment, and the ceremony to upgrade valor awards
- Yahoo News — Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell’s statement on recovered classified documents and the broader context of the review
- Stars and Stripes — The panel’s review of more than 9 million documents and completion of key interviews in April 2026
- The Hill — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s May 2025 directive establishing the special review panel, with Parnell as chair
- White House statement — Description of the Abbey Gate attack as killing 13 American service members and wounding 45, with over 160 civilians injured
- Reuters — Hegseth’s May 2025 order for a comprehensive review of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan
