On Thursday (26 August), a complex attack at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, resulted in a number of US and civilian casualties.
According to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health, more than 90 Afghans have been declared dead and 150 are badly injured. From the American section, 13 are dead with 18 wounded, as reported by the head of US Central Command. These blasts occurred while a huge rush of people from the US and other states were trying to evacuate Afghanistan before the 31st August withdrawal deadline.
“A thirteenth US service member has died from his wounds suffered as a result of the attack on Abbey Gate,” the head Bill Urban had said.
A Taliban official also provided Reuters with the information that among those killed, 28 were members of the Taliban. The official stated, “We have lost more people than the Americans” and declined any extension of the deadline for foreign forces to be leaving the country.
This attack from Thursday has been professed by ISIS from the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) who said that they targeted “translators and collaborators with the American army.”
In response the US president, Joe Biden, has promised to avenge those lost in this attack, he said, “We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests in our people with every measure at my command.”
His televised comments also stated, “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,”
The attack on Thursday consisted of 2 bomb blasts and rounds of gunfire just outside the airport. The aftermath was a scene out of a horror movie, with dead bodies lying around, being taken out of the wastewater canal nearby and the survivors looking for those they cared for.
A witness described the situation as, “I saw bodies and body parts flying in the air like a tornado blowing plastic bags. That little water flowing in the sewage canal had turned into blood.”
Along with the quick ongoing evacuations, more attacks are also being braced for, due to the existing threat of ISIS.
