US Troops and Afghans Killed in Suicide Attacks Outside Kabul Airport
Thirteen US service members and at least 60 Afghans have been killed in two bombing attacks outside Kabul’s airport, according to the Pentagon and Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health.
The deadly blasts came as the United States and other Western countries raced to complete a massive evacuation of their citizens and Afghan allies following the Taliban takeover of the country.
An official with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health said that more than 60 Afghan people were dead and 140 wounded.
Eighteen US service members were injured in addition to the 13 dead, said Capt. Bill Urban of US Central Command (Centcom).
US President Joe Biden, speaking from the White House, called the troops “heroes” and said he was “outraged as well as heartbroken.”
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he warned the perpetrators of the attack.
ISIS in Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, has claimed that an ISIS militant carried out the suicide attack, but provided no evidence to support the claim.
US officials have said the group was likely behind the attack, and Biden on Thursday announced that he had ordered US military commanders “to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-K assets, leadership and facilities.”