The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Islamic State group claims it is responsible for the airport assault.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden vowed Thursday to complete the evacuation of American citizens and others from Afghanistan despite a deadly suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport. He also promised to avenge the deaths, declaring to the extremists responsible: “We will hunt you down and make you pay.”
Speaking with emotion from the White House, Biden said the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate, known as ISIS-K, was to blame for the attacks that killed 13 American service members and many more Afghan civilians. He said there was no evidence they colluded with the Taliban, who now control the country.
“We have some reason to believe we know who they are,” he said of the bombers and gunmen involved. “Not certain.”
As many as 1,000 Americans and many more Afghans are struggling to get out of Kabul.
Biden was briefed on the attacks, which also killed at least 60 Afghans and came 12 days into the rushed evacuation and five days before its scheduled completion. Some Republicans argued to extend the evacuation beyond Tuesday’s deadline.
The U.S. general overseeing the evacuation, Gen. Frank Mckenzie, said after the attacks, “If we can find who is associated with this, we will go after them.” He said it would be a mistake for the United States to call an early end to the evacuation, despite the risks.
Shortly after Mckenzie spoke, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the killings on its Amaq news channel.
The administration has been blamed for a chaotic and deadly evacuation that began in earnest only after the collapse of the U.s.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban’s takeover of the country. More than 100,000 people have been evacuated so far.
Thursday’s attacks were likely to intensify political pressure on Biden, who already was under heavy criticism for not beginning the pullout earlier. He had announced in April that he was ending the U.S. war and would have all forces out by September.
House Republican leader Kevin Mccarthy of California called for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-calif., to bring the chamber back into session to consider legislation that would prohibit the U.S. withdrawal until all Americans are out. That’s highly unlikely, and Pelosi’s office dismissed such suggestions as “empty stunts.”
At the Pentagon, Mckenzie said more attempted attacks were expected.
After the suicide bomber’s attack at the airport’s Abbey Gate, a number of ISIS gunmen opened fire on civilians and military forces, he said. There also was an attack at or near the Baron Hotel near that gate, he said.
The attacks won’t drive the U.S. out earlier than scheduled, he said.
“Let me be clear, while we are saddened by the loss of life, both U.S. and Afghan, we are continuing to execute the mission,” he said. He said there were about 5,000 evacuees on the airfield Thursday awaiting flights.
“We thought this would happen sooner or later,” Mckenzie said, adding that U.S. military commanders were working with Taliban commanders to prevent further attacks.
U.S. officials said 10 of the dead service members were U.S. Marines, two were soldiers and one was a Navy corpsman. Mckenzie said another 18 service members were wounded. Officials warned the toll could grow. More than 140 Afghans were wounded, an Afghan official said.
One of the bombers struck people standing knee-deep in a wastewater canal under the sweltering sun, throwing bodies into the fetid water. Those who moments earlier had hoped to get on flights out could be seen carrying the wounded to ambulances in a daze, their own clothes darkened with blood.
The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan is far more radical than the Taliban, which condemned the attack.
Western officials had warned of a major attack, urging people to leave the airport, but that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country in the last few days of an American-led evacuation before the U.S. officially ends its 20-year presence on Aug. 31.
Emergency, an Italian charity that operates hospitals in Afghanistan, said it had received at least 60 patients wounded in the airport attack, in addition to 10 who were dead when they arrived.
“Surgeons will be working into the night,” said Marco Puntin, the charity’s manager in Afghanistan. The wounded overflowed the triage zone into the physiotherapy area and more beds were being added, he said.
Mckenzie said clearly some failure at the airport allowed a suicide bomber to get so close to the gate.
He said the Taliban have been screening people outside the gates, though there was no indication that the Taliban deliberately allowed Thursday’s attacks to happen. He said the U.S. has asked Taliban commanders to tighten security around the airport’s perimeter.
Adam Khan was waiting nearby when he saw the first explosion outside the Abbey Gate. He said several people appeared to have been killed or wounded, including some who were maimed.
The second blast was at or near the Baron Hotel, where many people, including Afghans, Britons and Americans, were told to gather in recent days before heading to the airport for evacuation. Additional explosions could be heard later, but Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said some blasts were carried out by U.S. forces to destroy their equipment.
A former Royal Marine who runs an animal shelter in Afghanistan says he and his staff were caught up in the aftermath of the blast near the airport.
“All of a sudden we heard gunshots and our vehicle was targeted, had our driver not turned around he would have been shot in the head by a man with an AK-47,” Paul “Pen” Farthing told Britain’s Press Association news agency.
Farthing is trying to get staff of his Nowzad charity out of Afghanistan, along with the group’s rescued animals.