ISLAMABAD: More than 100 people have been killed in twin blasts outside Kabul airport on Thurs- day night (Aug 26). About 100 Afghan nationals and 13 US troops are among those who have died in attack on Kabul airport.
Taliban and other media reports claimed that 28 members of Taliban have also died in this twin blasts’ attack which targeted the people and US personnel outside Kabul airport. Earlier, media reports indicated 85 casualties in Kabul airport blasts. At least 13 US soldiers were also killed in Thursday’s blasts, the worst single-day loss for American troops in Afghani- stan since the August 2011.
The US troops helping to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule are bracing for more attacks. Thurs- day’s attack was claimed by ISIL (ISIS) offshoot in Afghanistan, The Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), which said its suicide bombers singled out “translators and collaborators with the American army”.
US President Joe Biden pledged to retaliate against the attack in Kabul, confirming that the bombings were carried out by ISIS-K. “We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests in our people with every measure at my command,” he said.
Taliban says 28 of its members killed in airport blasts At least 28 members of the Taliban are among the people killed in explosions overnight outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, a Taliban official told Reuters news agency.
“We have lost more people than the Americans,” said the official, who declined to be identified. He said there was no reason to extend the August 31 deadline for foreign forces to leave the country.
Australia pulled out its troops ahead of Kabul blasts
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Friday (Aug 27) his country has already completed its evacuation operations in Afghani- stan. The country pulled out its troops out Kabul just before the bombings on Thursday, after receiving “very clear intelligence” of an impending attack. “We were able to ensure the departure of the remaining Australian personnel over the course of last night, not that long before the terrible events that unfolded last night took place,” Morri- son said at a news conference.
He also said that American and British forces had helped Australia over nine days to evacuate some 4,100 people, including 3,200 Australians and Afghan citizens with Australian visas.
US President orders military strikes against ISIS-Khorasan
US President Joe Biden ordered Amer- ican military commanders to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-Kho- rasan assets, leadership and facilities as the death toll of suicide blasts at Kabul airport rose to over 100. Two blasts and gunfire rocked the area outside the airport on Thursday evening, witnesses said. Videos shot by Afghan journalists showed dozens of bodies strewn around a canal on the edge of the airport. A health official and a Taliban official said the toll of Afghans killed had risen to over 100 people, includ- ing 28 Taliban members. The US military said 13 of its service members were killed. The ISIS-Khorasan, an Islamic State affiliate militant outfit claimed responsibil- ity. ISIS, an enemy of the Taliban as well as the West, said one of its suicide bombers targeted “translators and collaborators with the American army”.
“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,” said Biden while addressing his nation from the White House soon after the attack. “We will respond with force and precision, at our time, at the place we choose and at the moment of our choos- ing,” he said. “I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command.”
Biden also indicated that he could send more military assistance to Afghanistan if he felt the need for it. “I’ve instructed the military (to act) with whatever they need. If they need additional force, I will grant it,” he said. The attacks, he said, had only increased the determination of the US military to carry on its mission. Biden said that the service members who lost their lives in Kabul on Thursday were “heroes” and “the best the country has to offer”.
“The lives we lost today were lives given in the service of liberty, the service of securi- ty, the service of others, in the service of America,” he said. He also defended relying on the Taliban to provide security outside the Kabul airport.
“We are counting on them to act in their own self-interest,” he said. “And it’s in their interest that we leave when we said we would. There is no evidence thus far from our commanders in the field that there has been collusion between Taliban and ISIS.”
US on alert for more attacks
General Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said US commanders were on alert for more attacks by ISIS, including possible rockets or vehicle-borne bombs targeting the airport.
“We’re doing everything we can to be prepared,” he said, adding that some intelligence was being shared with the Taliban and that he believed “some attacks have been thwarted by them.” A video taken in the aftermath of the attack showed corpses in a wastewater canal by the airport fence, some being fished out and laid in heaps while wailing civilians searched for loved ones.
“I saw bodies and body parts flying in the air like a tornado blowing plastic bags,” said one Afghan witness. “That little water flowing in the sewage canal had turned into blood.” Zubair, a 24-year-old civil engineer, said he was close to a suicide bomber who detonated explosives. “Men, women and children were screaming. I saw many injured people — men, women and children — being loaded into private vehicles and taken toward the hospitals,” he said.
Chaotic evacuation
A US Central Command spokesperson said 18 soldiers wounded in the attack were “in the process of being aero-medical- ly evacuated from Afghanistan on specially equipped C-17s with embarked surgical units”.
A Taliban official lamented the number of Taliban members killed in the ISIS attack. “We have lost more people than the Ameri- cans in the airport blast,” a Taliban official said, adding that the Taliban was “not responsible for the chaotic evacuation plan prepared by foreign nations”. A Nato country diplomat in Kabul said all foreign forces were aiming to evacuate their citizens and embassy employees by Aug
30. The Taliban would tighten security around the airport, said the diplomat. “Security is their responsibility,” the diplomat said, adding that the Taliban should investigate the Islamic State network.
Blasts occurred in US troops’ security zone
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the explosions outside Kabul airport were ‘terrorist attacks’ which occurred areas which were under the security control of the US troops at Kabul airport. In a statement, the spokesman
said, “The group had provided information to the Americans about possible The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist attacks on Kabul airport.” He said that it was the responsibility of the US troops to maintain the security of the areas where blasts took place on Aug 26.
“The Taliban are committed to the international community and will not allow terrorists to use Afghanistan as a base for their operations,” he added. Zabihullah told that US troops were responsible to ensure security at the places where blasts occurred. The third blast was controlled, he stated.
Foreign passengers arriving from Kabul to stay in Islamabad hotels to get transit flights
Islamabad administration has directed the managements of all hotels in the capital city to stop local booking for 21 days, starting from Aug 27 (Friday). In a letter issue to all hotels today, district magistrate, Islamabad Capital Territory, stated that in view of the situation across the border, thousands of people are being evacuated from Afghanistan and passengers from transition flights are staying in Islamabad.
Therefore, in order to facilitate the foreign passengers arriving from Afghanistan, all hotels in Islamabad are directed to stop local reservation of rooms for at least 21 days with effect from Aug 28, 2021. Also, the vacant rooms may be placed at the disposal of the ICT administration for accommodation of passengers till further orders. Focal person from the ICT administration will be ADCG, ICT Rana Waqas Anwar. Worth noting is that evacuation of foreign- ers from Kabul has been expedited in the backdrop of two blasts outside the Kabul airport in which more than 100 people, including 28 Taliban and 13 US troops have been killed. High threat alerts were already issued about these blasts two days ahead of the tragic incidents. Even few hours before twin blasts, media reported possibility of attack on Kabul airport within few hours citing intelligence sources.
