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.
Zabiullah told that US troops were responsible to ensure security at the places where blasts occurred. The third blast was controlled, he stated.
About 103 people have been killed in twin blasts outside Kabul airport on Thursday night (Aug 26). As many as 109 Afghan nationals and 13 US troops are among those who have died in attack on Kabul airport, according to latest update of CNN.
Other media reports claimed that 28 members of Taliban have also died in this twin blasts’ attack.
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 Afghanistan since the August 2011.
The US troops helping to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule are bracing for more attacks.
Thursday’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 say 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.
