U.S.: Drone strike killed ‘multiple suicide bombers’
KABUL, Afghanistan — A U.S. drone strike blew up a vehicle carrying “multiple suicide bombers” from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate on Sunday before they could attack the ongoing military evacuation at Kabul’s international airport, American officials said. An Afghan official said three children were killed in the strike.
The strike came just two days before the U.S. is set to conclude a massive two-weeklong airlift of more than 114,000 Afghans and foreigners and withdraw the last of its troops.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department released a statement signed by around 100 countries, as well as NATO and the European Union, saying they had received “assurances” from the Taliban that people with travel documents would still be able to leave the country after President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline. The Taliban have said they will allow normal travel after the U.S. withdrawal is completed on Tuesday.
The United States has the capacity to evacuate the approximately 300 remaining U.S. citizens by the deadline, senior Biden administration officials said Sunday.
Jacob Blake hopeful of walking soon
Jacob Blake Jr., a Black man who was left paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a year ago, expects to be walking soon, an accomplishment he says is tempered by fears of it happening again.
Blake told CNN he was able to take a few steps during his son’s birthday celebration this past week, which he compared to sliding his legs through a woodchipper. Although he was “so geeked” by the moment that followed months of physical rehabilitation, he is not claiming victory.
“Yeah, I’m here, and yeah I’m about to be walking, but I really don’t feel like I have survived because it could happen to me again,” Blake told the network. “I have not survived until something has changed.”
Former IOC president Rogge dies
LONDON — Jacques Rogge, who oversaw an era of political and financial stability in the Olympic movement after its worst ethics scandal and pursued a hard line against doping during his 12 years as IOC president, has died, the Olympic organization said Sunday. He was 79.
The International Olympic Committee announced his death without giving details. Rogge’s health had visibly declined when he attended Olympic events since his presidency ended in 2013.