Amid evacuations in Afghanistan’s Kabul airport, multiple bomb blasts and at least one attack by a gunman on Thursday, killed nearly 72 Afghans and 13 US service personnel, plunging the western forces evacuation from the country into a deeper crisis.
At least 72 civilians, including children, and many Taliban guards were killed in the blast, health officials and a Taliban spokesperson said. Later the Taliban even condemned the attack saying it occurred in an area “controlled by US forces”.
Condemning the attack, US President Joe Biden said, “We will hunt you down and make you pay.” Meanwhile he declined to extend his 31 August deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from the war-torn nation but promised to evacuate all the US citizens who want to leave. “To those who carried out these attacks today and anyone who wishes America harm, know this: we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he noted.
The US authorities strongly believe that the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State, called the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), was responsible for the bomb blasts. ISIS-K is opposed both by the US and the Taliban.
