Evacuation efforts to rescue U.S. citizens and Afghans fleeing their own country ramped up at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Friday, a day after two bombs tore through a crowd, killing 13 U.S. service members and dozens more civilians.
More than 100 victims are dead after a multifaceted bombing ,for which the Islamic State has claimed credit, happened in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday, targeting thousands of people attempting to flee the newly formed Taliban regime.
The two suicide bomb attacks in Kabul killed at least 95 Afghans, 11 U.S. Marines, and one Navy medic, with 15 more U.S. service members injured, stoking congressional fears that the evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghans who worked with the United States would collapse on a timetable dictated by terrorists.
13 US SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED IN TWIN EXPLOSIONS OUTSIDE KABUL AIRPORT
Afghan officials warned the death toll could rise, as morgues in the capital city are up to nearly full capacity and there is a possibility relatives are taking bodies away from the sites near the explosions, one of which happened outside the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport and another outside the nearby Baron Hotel.
President Joe Biden has remained steadfast on pulling U.S. forces out of Afghanistan by his self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline while vowing to help any U.S. citizen leave the country who wants to flee. The Taliban have said they will allow Afghans to leave on commercial flights after the U.S. withdrawal, but it is not clear which airlines would return to an airport controlled by the militant group, according to the Associated Press.
Biden addressed the U.S. Thursday evening following the chaotic day near the airport, for which the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan, an enemy of the recently established Taliban government in the country, claimed responsibility.
“We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden warned ISIS in the White House speech.
More than 100,000 people have been safely evacuated from Kabul, but as of Thursday, there were as many as 1,000 U.S. citizens and tens of thousands more Afghans still struggling to leave in one of history’s largest airlifts, according to U.S. officials.
The bombings have raised questions about a string of recent vows the Taliban have made to maintain security in Afghanistan, along with promises of safety and amnesty for Afghans who previously backed the U.S. efforts in the region.
Reports have emerged in recent days of Taliban members blocking girls from attending schools and other reports of door-to-door searches for people who worked with Western forces.
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The deaths of U.S. service members mark the first combat fatalities in the region since February 2020 and the deadliest incident in Afghanistan since Aug. 6, 2011, when 30 U.S. service members, including 22 Navy SEALs, were killed along with seven Afghan special forces members and an Afghan civilian interpreter when their helicopter was gunned down in Wardak province.
