WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden pledged yesterday to hunt down the perpetrators of the suicide bombings that killed 12 American troops in Kabul and said the United States will not be deterred from its mission to evacuate thousands of civilians from Afghanistan.
“To those who carried out this attack as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said.
In a solemn address from the White House, he praised the slain US servicemen as “heroes” and said the evacuation mission from Kabul will continue until the planned US withdrawal date of August 31.
“We will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation,” Biden said.
He reaffirmed the August 31 deadline for all US troops to leave Afghanistan and said the US forces would fly out as many people as possible before that date.
There remains an “opportunity for the next several days, between now and the 31st, to be able to get them out”, he said.
“Knowing the threat, knowing that we may very well have another attack, the military has concluded that that’s what we should do. I think they are right.”
Biden also said he has seen no evidence that the Taliban colluded with Islamic State militants in carrying out the deadly attacks in Kabul.
“There is no evidence thus far that I’ve been given as a consequence by any of the commanders in the field that there has been collusion between the Taliban and ISIS in carrying out what happened today (yesterday),” he said.
Asked by a reporter if he bore any responsibility for the death of the US service members killed yesterday, Biden said: “I bear responsibility fundamentally for all that’s happened of late.”
IS claims responsibility
Yesterday, suicide bombers attacked crowds of people gathered outside Kabul airport hoping to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, killing dozens.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which added more urgency and heartbreak to the frantic US-led campaign to airlift people out of Afghanistan now that the hard-line Islamist group has seized power.
The airport blasts came as the August 31 deadline looms for the US to withdraw its troops, and for it and other Western countries to end a massive airlift that has already evacuated nearly 100,000 people.
The attack marked a deadly escalation of the drama unfolding at the airport. It is the only part of the country under foreign control following the Taliban’s return to power on August 15, and huge crowds have massed in the hope of being evacuated.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP that between 13 and 20 people were killed and 52 wounded in the twin blasts, while Kabul hospitals reported six dead and up to 90 wounded.
A health official in the pre-Taliban administration said the death toll could rise to 60, but added that he could not be named and other sources could not confirm the figure.
Twelve US troops were killed in the attack and 15 wounded, said General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command. He said an unspecified number of Afghan civilians were also killed.
McKenzie said the blasts have been assessed as coming from Islamic State suicide bombers, and that the US airlift would continue despite the attack.
“ISIS will not deter us from accomplishing the mission,” he said.
The US expects more Islamic State attacks in Kabul and is prepared to retaliate, McKenzie told a news conference.
The 12 US military troops killed in the bombing attack amounted to the worst single-day loss for the Pentagon in Afghanistan since 2011.
Later, in the early hours today, a huge blast was heard in Kabul. Mujahid said this was a controlled explosion by US troops destroying equipment at the airport, a statement that has yet to be independently confirmed.
Biden had earlier cited an “acute” terrorist threat from the regional chapter of the jihadist group.
The Taliban, a rival of the Islamic State, condemned the blasts, and said they happened in an area under US military control.
‘Total panic’
Graphic video shared on social media showed bodies lying semi-submerged in a canal adjacent to the airport, where thousands have gathered since the Taliban takeover of August 15 hoping for a flight out.
“When people heard the (first) explosion there was total panic,” a man name Milad told AFP.
“The Taliban then started firing in the air to disperse the crowd. I saw a man rushing with an injured baby in his hands.”
The US government and its allies had raised the alarm earlier in the day with a series of advisories warning their citizens to avoid the airport.
After the blasts, images posted on social media showed men ferrying wounded people to safety in wheelbarrows.
In another picture, a boy was seen clutching the arm of a man whose clothes were soaked in blood.
‘Truly heartbreaking’
More than 95,000 Afghans and foreigners have fled Afghanistan via the US-led airlift since the hard-line Taliban movement took control of the country.
Biden has not budged on the August 31 deadline – even as some foreign nations warned they would be forced to leave at-risk Afghans behind.
Several Western allies have already wrapped up their airlift operations including Canada, whose government said it was “truly heartbreaking” to leave behind those who wanted to be rescued.
The airport attack on unarmed people desperate to flee to safety drew condemnation from around the world, with Britain describing it as barbaric and Germany as heinous. The United Nations called an urgent meeting of the permanent members of the Security Council for Monday.
Here, Republicans said Congress should end its summer vacation and reconvene to discuss what they called the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Islamic State threat
In recent years, the Islamic State’s Afghanistan-Pakistan chapter has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in those countries.
It has massacred civilians at mosques, shrines, public squares and even hospitals.
The group has especially targeted Muslims from sects it considers heretical, including Shias.
But while IS and the Taliban are both hard-line Sunni Islamist militants, they are rivals and oppose each other.
The Taliban have promised a softer brand of rule from their first stint in power, which ended in 2001 when the US invaded because they gave sanctuary to al-Qaeda.
But many Afghans fear a repeat of the Taliban’s brutal interpretation of Islamic law, as well as violent retribution for working with foreign militaries, Western missions or the previous US-backed government.
There are particular concerns for women, who were largely banned from education and employment and could only leave the house with a male chaperone during the group’s 1996-2001 rule. – AFP, August 27, 2021
