The latest on the crisis in Afghanistan
- Suicide bombings around the Kabul airport on Thursday, August 26, claimed the lives of at least 60 Afghans and 13 US soldiers .
- President Joe Biden said his administration would commit to finding those responsible . Biden said: “We will catch them and we will make them pay” in a message from the White House, where he insisted that the priority is to rescue all the American citizens who remain in Afghanistan.
- The radical group ISIS-K, a faction of the Islamic State, claimed responsibility for the attack. ISIS-K is a group at odds with the Taliban, since it considers that the Taliban do not apply Islamic law “harshly enough.”
- The Taliban said the attacks occurred because of “the presence of foreign forces . “
- The spokesman for the White House , Jen Psaki, said the US flags on federal buildings be flown at half – mast until 31 August.
Double ISIS Bombing Causes Bloodbath at Kabul Airport
A double suicide bombing claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) killed dozens, including 13 US military personnel, at the Kabul airport, exacerbating panic among the thousands of Afghans trying to flee the Taliban-controlled country before the end of evacuations on August 31.
The balance of the double explosion is still unclear. The Pentagon reported 13 US soldiers killed and 18 wounded, the largest loss for the US military in Afghanistan since 2011.
The Taliban, for their part, pointed to between 13 and 20 dead and 52 wounded, although a health official from the previous government raised the figure to 60 dead.
The jihadist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which aggravates the dramatic situation at the Kabul airport, immersed in an evacuation operation against the clock to remove thousands of foreigners and Afghans from the country under Western protection.
Videos broadcast on social networks reflected the panic and desolation in the place: dozens of victims, dead or injured, lying in the dirty waters of a drainage channel, surrounded by overflowing lifeguards. Men, women and children ran in all directions fleeing the explosions.
– The US ‘will not be intimidated’ –
At the worst moment since the beginning of his term, a shaken President Joe Biden promised to “hunt down” the perpetrators of the attack and make them “pay” for its consequences and called the fallen soldiers “heroes”.
“The United States will not be intimidated,” added the US president in a martial tone, who assured that the evacuation mission will continue at the airport.
According to the US military, which fears that these attacks “will continue”, the attack was started by two suicide bombers from the jihadist group, accompanied by other members who opened fire on civilians and the military.
The Taliban, through their spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, “strongly” condemned the attack, but noted that it “took place in an area where US forces are responsible for security.”
The airport was the last place in the country controlled by Western forces since the fall of Kabul and the rise to power of the Taliban on August 15.
– Total panic –
As the sun began to set, a first explosion occurred at Abbey Gate, one of the access gates to the airport. Soon after, another explosive charge exploded “in or near the Baron Hotel” a short distance away, the Pentagon explained.