At least 60 Afghans and 13 United States troops were killed in an attack by a couple of suicide bombers and armed men in Kabul’s airport on Thursday, officials from Afghan and the U.S. confirmed.
The attack has made the airlift efforts from the conflict-torn Afghanistan into sight of desperation.
But the attacks would not deter the United States from evacuating Americans in the country taken over by the Taliban forces, the U.S. general supervising the efforts assured, saying that the flights were resuming.
According to the head of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. Frank McKenzie, the airport is being secured by a massive force and there are other routes to bring evacuees to safety.
The general said there are about 5, 000 people waiting to board their flights out of Afghanistan.
The explosion happened shortly after the officials from the West cautioned about a huge attack, shooing away people from the airport. The Afghans who desperately want to leave the country did not listen to the warning as the evacuation initiated by the U.S. is about to conclude.
On its Amaq news channel, the Islamic State group, which is more of an extremist than the Taliban, took accountability for the attacks. The Taliban, on the other hand, has nothing to do with the incident.
U.S. President Joe Biden made his statement regarding the blast. In a speech from the White House, Biden said that the blast would not affect the decision of the U.S. on the schedule for leaving Afghanistan.
The president also told the U.S. troops to plan for striking IS.
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said in his emotional speech, as reported by AP News.
Included in the casualties from the blast were 11 Marines, one Navy medic, and one service member. It also left eight service members and 140 Afghans wounded, according to an Afghan official.
