President Biden vows US to find perpetrators of attacks at Afghanistan airport

The authors of the attacks had hit hours earlier at two locations around the perimeter of the International Airport “Hamid Karzai”, near the Ableey Gate and in front of a nearby hotel.

At least 60 Afghans and 12 American troops were killed, according to US and Afghan officials. Then the Pentagon confirmed that a 13th soldier was dead. At least 143 other Afghans were injured, the Associated Press news agency reported.

An American official told Reuters that US forces in Kabul were preparing for further attacks by the Islamic State.

Victims of the attack were the first among American soldiers as of February 2020. It was the deadliest incident for American troops in Afghanistan for a decade.

US General Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said during a press conference at the Pentagon that 11 marines and a Navy doctor were killed and 15 more troops were injured. He said a gun crash followed bomb attacks.

Later Thursday, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the group's news agency in its channel, Telegram, reported.

The United Nations and NATO condemned the attacks, as did Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahed.

In his speech, Biden pledged that evacuations would end and the United States would catch those behind the attack.

The “those who carried out this attack as well as anyone who will harm America must know: We will not forgive. We won't forget. We'll catch you and make you pay,” he said from the White House.

The president said evacuations would continue.

“We will extract (from Afghanistan) Americans who want to leave,” he said.

General McKenzie echoed the president.

We continue to execute our mission No. 1, which is to get as many evacuated as possible and citizens from Afghanistan,” he said during the press conference.

“ISIS will not hold us back from fulfilling the mission,” General McKenzie said. The United States plans to stick to the August 31st deadline to withdraw all troops.

General McKenzie said the military believes the attacks were carried out by fighters linked to the Islamic State group in Afghanistan, known as I SIS-K. He also said more attempts for attacks were anticipated.

I have also ordered my commanders to draft operational plans to hit properties, leadership and objects of I SIS-K. We will respond with strength and precision at the time, place and moment we choose”, Biden said during the speech.

He said there was no evidence, so far, that there was co-operation between the Taliban and I SIS carrying out the attacks.

The attack outside the airport hit an area where thousands of people have gathered since the Taliban took over Kabul on August 15th. More than 100,000 have left the country on evacuation flights, Beden said.

Earlier Thursday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the explosion at the Abiby Gate was part of a <x0 complex attack resulting in a number of injuries between Americans and civilians”.

He said a second explosion occurred in or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abeey Gate.

Speaking of the first explosion, a high source of Taliban confirmed to the Voice of America that a person blew himself up in an area where large numbers were present.

The blasts came hours after Western governments had warned of the threat of a terrorist attack at the airport and said those gathered in the area should be moved to a safe place.

A State Department official who spoke of the Voice of America under anonymity said the United States “is trying to advance their mission, while they know that our security is heavily compromised,” said the official.

“Sulmet occurred just at the moment of the shift of shifts otherwise even consular officers could have been victims of”, he said.

After the explosion, the American Embassy in Kabul said that American citizens should avoid travel to the airport and avoid airport entrances, due to fears for further attacks.

Some of the wounded arrived Thursday at the Kabul Emergency Hospital, run by an international nongovernmental organisation that deals with victims of war and landmines. Afghan news channels posted photos of civilians carrying their wounded to carts on Twitter.

Pakistani officials have demanded, starting on Friday, that hotels across Islamabad capital cancel reservations and keep all government rooms available for at least three weeks to accommodate thousands of foreigners who are urgently evacuated from Afghanistan.