Thirteen flags flying on California overpass to honor the US service members killed in Afghan suicide blast are torn to shreds as cops hunt the vandals responsible
Thirteen US flags that were hanging on a California overpass in honor of the 13 US troops that died in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan last month were found torn to shreds Monday.
The flags, draped across a rail on the Ivy Street overpass above the 91 Freeway in Riverside, about 55 miles east of Los Angeles, were 'intentionally damaged,' police said.
Huge rips and tears are visible in the flags which can be seen from the overpass and street below.
Someone noticed the damage and reported it to police on Monday, the Riverside Police Department wrote on Facebook Tuesday.
No arrests had been made as of Wednesday morning, a police spokesman told DailyMail.com.
The flags appear to have been 'intentionally damaged,' Riverside police said Tuesday
The police department said on Facebook that the flags were 'carefully removed' with the help of two citizens and turned over to local Boy Scout Troop 703 for 'proper retirement'
Huge rips and tears can clearly be seen in the American flags
BEFORE: They were placed on the Ivy Street overpass above 91 Freeway in honor of the 13 US service members killed in a suicide bombing during Afghan evacuations on August 26
Eleven Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier died when a member of ISIS-K detonated a 25-pound suicide vest at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 26.
Eighteen other US service members were wounded and more than 160 Afghans were killed.
The attack took place days before the US's August 31 deadline to evacuate US citizens, Afghan interpreters and others who wanted to flee the Taliban - who took over the country on August 15 after US intervention had kept them at bay for 20 years.
Thirteen US troops were killed and 18 were wounded in suicide attack at the Kabul airport
Above, US Marines on August 27 honor the 13 US troops killed in Kabul the day before
The bombing took place as the US and its allies were hard at work evacuating 114,000 people from Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country on August 15
Service members eventually carried out one of the largest evacuation efforts in modern history, which saw the US and its allies rescue more than 114,000 people from the Central Asian country since August 14, according to the White House.
'For those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive, we will not forget,' President Joe Biden said in an address at the White House shortly after the August 26 bombing.
'We will hunt you down and make you pay.'
On August 29, the US carried out a drone strike aimed at a vehicle transporting 'a substantial amount of explosive material' towards Kabul airport, according to US officials, killing seven children.
Ezmarai Ahmadi, 40, was killed alongside his sons Zamir, Faisal and Farzad - aged 20, 16 and 12 respectively, in the strike. He also lost six nieces and nephews, including a boy and a girl, both aged two, two girls aged seven and five, a six-year-old boy and 28-year-old Naser Heydari.
Riverside police thanked the 168,000-person Facebook group 'What is going on in Riverside County?' for bringing the crime to its attention.
'With help from two citizens, the flags were carefully removed and will be turned over later today to local Boy Scout Troop 703 for proper retirement,' the department wrote.
No comments