American forces in Kabul had been bracing for more Islamic State attacks though winding up their evacuation mission, U.S. officials stated, as the quantity of US troops killed in Thursday’s suicide bomb attack rose to 13.
A U.S. official told Reuters the quantity of U.S. personnel killed was probably to rise even larger. More than a dozen had been wounded.
The attack marked the initially U.S. military casualties in Afghanistan because February 2020 and represented the deadliest incident for American troops in the nation in a decade.
At least two explosions tore by means of crowds that had thronged the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport desperate to leave Afghanistan because the Taliban seized energy just about two weeks ago ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw American troops right after two decades.
In a statement, Islamic State claimed duty and stated one of its suicide bombers had targeted “translators and collaborators with the American army.”
Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie, head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, told a news briefing the explosions had been followed by gunfight. McKenzie stated the threat from Islamic State persists alongside “other active threat streams.”
“We believe it is their desire to continue these attacks and we expect those attacks to continue – and we’re doing everything we can to be prepared,” McKenzie stated.
McKenzie added that future possible attacks could involve rockets becoming fired at the airport or car or truck bombs attempting to get in. McKenzie stated he saw nothing at all that would convince him that Taliban forces had let the attack take location.
U.S. officials stated one bomb detonated close to the airport’s Abbey Gate and the other was close to the nearby Baron Hotel.
RACE AGAINST TIME
A enormous airlift of U.S. and other foreign nationals and their households as nicely as some Afghans has been beneath way because the day ahead of Taliban forces captured Kabul on Aug. 15, capping a swift advance across the nation as American and allied troops withdrew.
The United States has been racing to carry out the airlift ahead of its military is set to totally withdraw from the nation by August 31. McKenzie stated the evacuation mission was not going to cease.
“I think we can continue to conduct our mission, even while we are receiving attacks like this,” McKenzie stated, adding that U.S. forces will “go after” the perpetrators of Thursday’s attack.
McKenzie stated there had been about 1,000 U.S. citizens estimated to be nonetheless in Afghanistan. A spokesperson for the State Department stated more than two thirds of these Americans had informed it they had been taking actions to leave Afghanistan.
Islamic State militants have emerged in Afghanistan as enemies each of the West and the Taliban. A 2001 US-led invasion toppled the Taliban from energy right after the group had harbored the al Qaeda militants accountable for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The U.S. military deaths in the Afghanistan war because 2001 stood at roughly 2,500.
Afghan overall health officials had been quoted as saying 60 civilians died, but it was not clear regardless of whether that was a full count. Video uploaded by Afghan journalists showed dozens of bodies and wounded victims strewn about a canal on the edge of the airport.
U.S. officials have stated there are about 5,200 American troops offering airport safety. The attacks came right after the United States and allies had urged Afghans to leave the region about the airport due to the fact of a threat by Islamic State.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul a day earlier had advised Americans to keep away from traveling to the airport and stated these currently at the gates must leave right away, citing unspecified “security threats.”
The United States and its allies have mounted one of the largest air evacuations in history, bringing out about 95,700 folks, such as 13,400 on Wednesday, according to the White House.
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