Daily US Times: At least 60 Afghans and 13 US soldiers died in two suicide attacks in Kabul Airport. The horrific attacks created a bloodbath and panic as thousands of people rushed to the airport desperately wishing to leave the country as it fell to Taliban 11 days ago.
The US said it will not stop the evacuation of Americans and others and flights out were continuing. The head of US Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, said there was a large amount of security at the airport, and alternate routes were being used to get evacuees in.
McKenzie said that about 5,000 people were awaiting flights on the airfield.
The deadly blasts came as Western countries, including the US and UK raced to complete a massive evacuation of their citizens and Afghan allies.
On Thursday, an official of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health said that more than 60 Afghan people were dead and 140 wounded.
Eighteen US service members were injured in the attack, said Capt. Bill Urban of US Central Command (Centcom).
Speaking from the White House, US President Joe Biden called the troops “heroes” and said he was “outraged as well as heartbroken.”
Warning the perpetrators of the attack, Bide said: “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay.”
ISIS in Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, has claimed the responsibility of the suicide attacks but provided no evidence to support the claim.
US officials have said the group was likely behind the attack, and on Thursday, President Biden announced that he had ordered US military commanders “to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-K assets, leadership and facilities.”
In previous days, Mr Biden had cited the risk of a terror attack among the reasons for getting US soldiers out of Afghanistan by August 31. He had also promised a swift and forceful response to any disruption to the US evacuation process.
