Biden visits wounded service members at Walter Reed

By Devan Cole, CNN

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden traveled to Walter Reed medical center in Maryland on Thursday to visit wounded US service members.

“Tonight, the President and first lady are visiting wounded warriors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,” the White House said in a statement.

While the White House has not said which service members the Bidens are visiting, CNN reported earlier Thursday that there were US Marines at Walter Reed who had been wounded in a deadly terrorist attack last week in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Of the 15 Marines being treated at Walter Reed, “one is in critical condition, three are in serious condition and 11 are in stable condition,” Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Jim Stenger said.

The visit by the Bidens comes a week after the terrorist bombing outside Kabul’s airport killed 13 US service members and at least 170 others. The attack took place as American troops were racing to airlift US citizens and Afghan allies out of the country ahead of an August 31 withdrawal deadline.

Last week, the Pentagon said two “high profile” ISIS targets had been killed and another injured in a US drone strike in Afghanistan, a retaliatory step following the attack on the US forces.

On Sunday, the President and first lady attended what the military calls a “dignified transfer,” when the flag-draped cases carrying the remains of the 13 American service members killed in the attack returned to the US.

The transfer, which occurred at Dover Air Force Base in Biden’s home state of Delaware, was also attended by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and other senior military officials.

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CNN’s Mike Callahan, Kevin Liptak and DJ Judd contributed to this report.