Evacuation continuing despite Kabul airport carnage that killed more than 80
Two suicide bombers attacked crowds gathered outside Kabul airport, killing more than 70 Afghans and at least 13 US troops, Afghan and Pentagon officials said. More than 150 were wounded from the blasts.
This was the worst attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan since 2011, when 30 troops were killed in a attack on a Chinook helicopter.
The bombs exploded outside the airport where large crowds of people awaited flights out of the country following the Taliban takeover amid the massive evacuation of citizens of US and Western countries and their allies.
The attack was claimed by Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISIS-K (ISKP). The attacks occurred hours after the United States and its allies warned of possible attacks by ISIS.
US President Joe Biden, speaking from the White House, said he was “outraged as well as heartbroken.” “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he warned the perpetrators of the attack.
Biden also said there was no evidence they colluded with the Taliban, who now control the country. He also described ISIS-K as “arch-enemy of the Taliban.”
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of United States Central Command, called the continued threat from ISIS “extremely real.”
“We’re doing everything we can to be prepared for those attacks,” McKenzie said. The general said they are coordinating with the Taliban on security for the airport and that the US mission is continuing despite the attack, and that the US will “go after” the people responsible for the attack.
