The US has suffered the worst loss of life in Afghanistan in a decade after two suspected suicide bombers killed at least 13 US troops near the Kabul airport Thursday.
One blast detonated at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport, where US troops were screening Afghans for evacuation following the Taliban's takeover of most of the Central Asian country on August 14.
The other blast took place at the nearby Baron Hotel, where thousands including Afghans, Britons and Americans were told to gather in recent days before heading to the airport for evacuation.
As many as 60 people are feared dead by Afghan estimates.
The estimated 13 US troops who died represent the largest US death toll in Afghanistan since August 5, 2011, when a Chinook military helicopter was shot down by a Taliban rocket-propelled grenade in the Maidan Wardak province southwest of Kabul.
Thirty-eight people - 30 US forces and eight Afghans - were killed in that attack, according to The Guardian.
Thursday's blasts killed at least 13 US troops, including 11 Marines, a Navy medic, and another service member screening evacuees at airport gates
The suicide bombings were carried out by ISIS-K, according to the US. Afghan officials estimate that as many as 60 people died and 140 people were wounded in total
US Republicans are calling on Biden to resign following the chaos amid hurried evacuations
A wounded woman arrives at a hospital for treatment after the two blasts on Thursday
The blasts targeted the Baron Hotel and the Abbey Gate of the airport. Above, volunteers and medical staff push an injured man on a gurney for treatment
Thursday's attacks are the first US deaths in Afghanistan since February 2020, according to Wall Street Journal reporter Vivian Salama.
President Joe Biden is pinning the blame on ISIS-K, the Central Asian offshoot of the Islamic State.
On Thursday, he paid tribute to the 'selfless heroes' who died helping vulnerable people to safety, but delivered a stern warning to the Islamic state offshoot behind the blasts that killed 11 U.S. Marines, a Navy medic and another service member screening evacuees at the airport gates.
Since the Taliban seized the Afghan capital on Aug. 14, more than 82,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan in one of the largest U.S. airlifts in history, according to the Associated Press.
Thursday was the deadliest day in Afghanistan since August 5, 2011, when the Taliban shot down a Chinook, seen above after the crash, carrying 30 US troops and eight Afghans
'For those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive, we will not forget,' Biden said in an emotional address at the White House on Thursday.
'We will hunt you down and make you pay.'
On Thursday, the bomb at the Abbey Gate struck people standing knee-deep in a wastewater canal under the sweltering sun, throwing bodies into the fetid water.
The filthy canal was filled with blood-soaked corpses, some being fished out and laid in heaps on the canal side while wailing civilians searched for loved ones.
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 Pentagon warned there is still an imminent threat of attack at the airport and have now been told to draw up strike plans to hit ISIS-K assets and leadership.
Biden took questions from the press after a day of consulting with his national security team and senior generals, while Republicans said he had 'blood on his hands' and demanded he resign or be impeached.
He admitted that he must take responsibility for everything that has happened in Afghanistan since deciding to withdraw – including the deaths of 13 service members - but stood by his decision to leave by August 31 and insisted the military timeline wouldn't change.
President Joe Biden pauses as he takes questions about the Kabul bombings on Thursday
He said: 'We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay.'
'Let me take the one question from the most interesting guy I know in the press,' Biden said, directing his final question of his briefing to Fox News' Peter Doocy.
'You set a deadline, you pulled troops out, you sent troops back in and now 12 Marines are dead,' Doocy said in a press conference before the latest confirmed service member death.
'You said the buck stops with you. Do you bear any responsibility for the way that things unfolded in the last two weeks?' he asked
'I bear responsibility for fundamentally all that's happened of late,' he said, before saying he had inherited a commitment to leave Afghanistan from the previous administration.
'Here's the deal, you know ... as well as I do that the former president made a deal with the Taliban that he would get all American forces out of Afghanistan by May 1.'
Biden revealed that he already asked his commanders for plans to strike back at the Afghan Islamic State offshoot that was responsible for the attack.
'I've also ordered my commanders to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-K assets, leadership and facilities,' he said.
'We will respond with force and precision at the place we choose and a moment of our choosing.'
Afghan health officials gave various estimates of the death toll on Thursday, ranging from at least 30 dead to more than 60, and from 120 wounded to 140, according to the New York Times.
A Taliban spokesman cited at least 13 civilians killed and 60 wounded.
Republicans stepped up their attacks on Biden.
Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the UN, and others demanded he resign or be impeached for his handling of the the withdrawal.
Republicans, outraged about the terrorist attacks in Kabul that left US personnel dead, accused President Biden of having 'blood on his hands,' as Sen. Lindsey Graham urged the US to take back control of Bagram airbase after reports of the two explosions at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
'I have advocated for days that the Bagram Air Base should be reopened as the Kabul airport is very difficult to defend and has been the only evacuation outlet,' the South Carolina Republican wrote on Twitter.
'We have the capability to reestablish our presence at Bagram to continue to evacuate American citizens and our Afghan allies. The biggest mistake in this debacle is abandoning Bagram.'
'I urge the Biden Administration to reestablish our presence in Bagram as an alternative to the Kabul airport so that we do not leave our fellow citizens and thousands of Afghan allies behind. It is not a capability problem, but a problem of will,' Graham said.
'The retaking of Bagram would put our military at risk, but I think those involved in the operation would gladly accept that risk because it would restore our honor as a nation and save lives.'
Lawmakers were briefed on the situation this week by Biden's national security team.
Meanwhile, Democrat Foreign Affairs Committee chair Sen. Bob Menendez, said: 'This is a full-fledged humanitarian crisis and US government personnel ... must secure the airport.'
'As we wait for more details to come in, one thing is clear: We can't trust the Taliban with Americans' security.'
President Biden has refused to extend the deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying he's been locked in by former President Donald Trump's deal with the Taliban to leave
The US has evacuated about 82,000 people from the country so far
Above, refugees are evacuated from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday
House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to bring back the US House, which is currently on recess and not meeting, so that lawmakers can be briefed on the situation.
'Today's attacks are horrific. My prayers go out to those who were injured and the families of those who were killed. I also continue to pray for the safety of our troops, the stranded American citizens, our allies and Afghan partners who remain in the area. Our enemies have taken advantage of the chaotic nature of the withdrawal,' the California Republican said in a statement.
Over 7,000 US service members and over 8,000 contractors have died in the post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, according to the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University.
The biggest toll of war appears to be emotional and mental, as more than 30,177 US service members and veterans of the post-9/11 wars have killed themselves, according to the institute.
Post a Comment