Deadly suicide bombings near the Kabul airport in Afghanistan killed more than a dozen members of the U.S. military and an unknown number of Afghans who were desperately trying to leave. Some of those Afghans have family in the Bay Area.
Qiamuddin Safi says his 32-year-old cousin Badruddin Safi had paperwork in hand, hoping to enter the airport and board a plane to safety when a bomb exploded, killing him.
"The blast happened, I lost my first cousin," Safi said. "He was an interpreter with the U.S. Army. My brother is in the ICU right now. He has two kids and a pregnant wife left behind. I lost him."
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Safi says the Biden administration failed his family.
"They kept calling, saying they needed help to get out. What should I say to his kids? Safi said.
Thousands of veterans who served in the region are trying to make sense of the deadly chaos. Air Force veteran Eddie Falcon is with About Face, a veterans group against the war. He supports pulling troops out of the region, but not as quickly as the administration is planning.
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"We are mobilizing this weekend in the U.S. in support of the Afghan people," Falcon said. "Biden is calling for everything to stop by Aug. 31. I think it's important to keep the embassy open and try to evacuate as many people as possible."
About Face is holding rallies across the country this weekend, including one in San Francisco's Union Square at 2 p.m. Saturday, calling for the U.S. to extend evacuation operations.
