Kabul Airport Attack Leaves 13 US Service Members, 60 Afghans Dead

Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday. Government officials report at least thirteen United States soldiers and 60 Afghans are dead.

Explosions went off near the airport at the Abbey gate and a short distance away by Baron hotel. Afghans, Americans, and Britons were advised days ago to gather at the hotel to wait for flights to evacuate.

“All of a sudden, we heard gunshots, and our vehicles was targeted, had our driver not turned around, he would have been shot in the head by a man with an AK-47, ” Paul Farthing told Britain’s Press Association.

10 U.S. Marines, two soldiers, one Navy corpsman were killed. Eighteen soldiers and more than 140 Afghans were wounded.

“We are working very hard right now to determine attribution, to determine who is associated with the cowardly attack. And we’re prepared to take action against them,” General Frank McKenzie, Head of United States Central Command, said during a briefing at the Pentagon. “Twenty-four-seven. We are looking for them.”

The Islamic State Group ISIS-K took responsibility for the deadly attack on its Amaq news channel.

General McKenzie says that the attack will not hinder the United States from removing Americans and others from the country.

The notorious Taliban took over the country after the United States decided to withdraw all remaining troops from the country to end the 20-year war. The United States plans to get all troops, Afghan interpreters, and allies out of the country by August 31, 2021.

The Taliban is demanding that foreign troops leave the country and cease evacuations by August 31, 2021.

The last time the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, they restricted women and girls to their homes and enforced severe laws.

President Joe Biden planned to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday but rescheduled the meeting to Friday. The White House cleared the President’s schedule for the day.

During a White House briefing on Thursday evening, President Biden took accountability for the events that have gone on in recent days. The President also blamed a deal former President Donald Trump made with the Taliban to remove troops by May 1 of this year.

“I bear responsibility for fundamentally all that has happened a late. You know as well as I do that the former President made a deal with the Taliban,” President Biden said during a briefing on Thursday evening.

President Biden says that he stands by his decision to remove troops and only had one alternative: to send more troops — something that he was not interested in doing as he feels that American troops have been in Afghanistan too long.

The President said that whoever is responsible for the attack will “pay.”

“Ladies and Gentleman, it was time to end a twenty-year war,” the President said before ending the briefing Thursday evening.

 

About RavenH

Raven Haywood is a journalist for 10+ years. Graduate from Howard University.

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