Thirteen US soldiers and dozens of Afghans were killed in two attacks near the Kabul airport, which has seen chaotic scenes with Afghans crowding outside its boundaries in a rush to escape the Taliban who took control of the capital and much of the country earlier this month.
The attacks, claimed by the terrorist group, ISIS, also known as Daesh, killed many Afghan people and injured several others in a nightmarish development for the US and Western countries pulling out their troops and civilians from Afghanistan ahead of the August 31 deadline for withdrawal. The terror group reportedly also released the picture of the suicide bomber.
The death was climbing toward a hundred by Friday morning. According to Pentagon 18 American troops were injured in the attacks. Reports said evacuations resumed Friday from the Kabul International Airport.
The US intelligence had warned of the ISIS threat during the evacuation of foreign nationals from Afghanistan as the US ends the war. The ISIS or ISIL emerged in Iraq and Syria after deadly civil wars and conflicts in the two Middle Eastern countries.
Reacting to the terror attacks, President Joe Biden paid tributes to the sacrifice of the U.S. soldiers in the line of duty but defended his decision to end the longest war in American history and bring back all U.S. forces from the country, now under the Taliban control.
He also warned the perpetrators of the consequences for the deadly bombing. The evacuation has become a high-stakes political issue for President Biden, who has defended his decision to end the war following the former Trump Administration’s 2020 deal to completely pull out the American troops. However, critics say disorderly evacuation is this administration’s responsibility.
“We will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation,” Biden said, speaking from the White House, hours after two attacks rocked the Afghan capital.
“We will rescue Americans, we will get our Afghan allies and the mission will go on. America will not be intimidated,” the president added.
The US is in the midst of airlifting American troops from Afghanistan in accordance with the timeline to complete the withdrawal by August 31. On Thursday, the White House said the U.S. has gotten out 7000 people in the last 12 hours.
The White House said the US had intelligence about the ISIS threat.
“We have been closely watching the ISIS threat,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said after the attacks.
On the question of the US working with the Afghan Taliban, Psaki noted that the Taliban are not a group “that we trust.” At the same time, she noted, it’s also a reality that the Taliban control vast swathes of Afghanistan.
But she added the US is not treating the Taliban as equal partners.
The Taliban joined world leaders and the United Nations in condemning the attack. Since early 2020 agreement between the Taliban and the United States on ending the war, the group has not attacked the American troops.
The story has been updated Friday morning.
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