A suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport on Thursday killed at least 73 people, including American troops. The massive explosion that rocked the capital was followed by a minor blast and several gunmen attacking crowds. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan (ISIS-K) claimed responsibility for the attacks.
According to officials, 60 civilians and 13 American soldiers were killed in the bombing. However, Reuters has estimated the death toll at 85. A Taliban official told Reuters that 28 members of the group were also killed in the attacks.
Several videos taken by Afghan journalists showed mangled bodies strewn around a canal near the airport while citizens searched for relatives among the bodies. “I saw bodies and body parts flying in the air like a tornado blowing plastic bags,” a witness told the news agency. “That little water flowing in the sewage canal had turned into blood.”
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The injured, including women and children, were rushed to nearby hospitals, and emergency services arrived at the spot immediately. Emergency, an Italian charity working in Afghanistan, told the Associated Press that it received around 70 injured people, of whom at least ten died.
The ISIS-K, an Islamic State (IS) affiliate in Afghanistan and Pakistan that claimed responsibility for the attacks, was formed in 2014. Its members include militants who left both the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani Taliban to pledge allegiance to IS. The group is responsible for bombings, public executions, killings of tribal leaders, and closing down schools. The Taliban also see ISIS-K as a regional rival and a challenger to its dominance in Afghanistan.
Thursday’s tragic events came amid warnings from the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) that ISIS-K posed a threat to the airport’s security and evacuation efforts. It was also the reason why US President Joe Biden denied extending troop withdrawal beyond August 31. However, the Taliban rebuffed the warnings and denied that any attack would take place.
Saying that his heart aches for the American soldiers and Afghan civilians who lost their lives, Biden said that America “will not be deterred by terrorists.” “We will continue the evacuation,” he added.
President Biden mourned the U.S. service members and Afghans killed in the attacks at the Kabul airport on Thursday and addressed those responsible: “We will hunt you down and make you pay.” https://t.co/YXINpuW0qb pic.twitter.com/B8b7vvRhi3
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 27, 2021
“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. I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command,” Biden warned.
Moreover, the White House released a statement on Thursday honouring the victims of the attack in Kabul. It said Biden ordered “that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff” at the White House, all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval vessels, and US embassies and facilities abroad “until sunset, August 30, 2021.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also expressed grievances for the loss of lives. “Today’s bombings around the Kabul airport were a devastating reminder of the dangerous conditions in which our service members and diplomats are operating as we conclude the United States’ 20-year military mission in Afghanistan,” Blinken said. He added, “We at the State Department feel an extraordinary debt of gratitude to them, today and every day.”
General Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of the US Central Command, said despite the tragic loss of lives, “the mission to evacuate American citizens and vulnerable Afghan civilians from Afghanistan will continue undeterred.” McKenzie added that the US forces face additional threats from militants through rockets, mortar, and suicide attacks. He noted that the Taliban is in charge of security outside the Kabul airport, and “the US military is working with them so they can help mitigate some of the threats.”
Countries and organisations worldwide, including the UK, India, the European Union, Turkey, Canada, and Pakistan, condemned the attacks.
Meanwhile, Western efforts to evacuate its citizens from Afghanistan continue. According to reports, around 1,500 American citizens are stuck in Afghanistan, and the US is engaged in frantic efforts to evacuate them. Apart from US citizens, thousands of Afghan civilians have been trying to flee since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan this month.