Pentagon now says two ISIS-K targets were killed and one wounded in US drone strike
Biden says he expects ANOTHER attack by ISIS-K in the next day and vows that his revenge strike that killed two terrorists in Afghanistan is ‘not the last’: Taliban seal off the airport
Biden said on Saturday that commanders informed him an attack is ‘highly likely’ in the next 24-36 hoursIt follows the US drone strike on ISIS-K in revenge for the suicide blast in Kabul that killed 13 US Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said US should have warned the group before strike on ISIS-KHowever he later said that his words had been ‘distorted’ and urged the media to disregard them Pentagon said two ISIS-K terror plotters were killed and one wounded in Friday’s strike in Afghanistan Meanwhile the evacuation of Kabul is entering its final hours ahead of Biden’s Tuesday deadlinePentagon says 6,800 people were evacuated in past 24 hours, with 1,400 still in processing at airportIn total, 5,400 US citizens have been flown out of the country since the evacuation began Taliban has now effectively sealed off the Kabul airport, making escape for anyone outside unlikelyMost NATO nations have now flown out their troops after two decades in AfghanistanUS troops now turn their focus to removing equipment and ending their presence at the airport
President Joe Biden has said that another attack on the Kabul airport could be imminent, while vowing that his revenge strike for an ISIS-K attack that killed 13 US troops is ‘not the last.’
‘The situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous, and the threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high. Our commanders informed me that an attack is highly likely in the next 24-36 hours,’ Biden said in a statement on Saturday.
As the U.S. military rushes into the final evacuation of Kabul airport ahead of Biden’s Tuesday deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan, the president defended his drone strike, which the Pentagon said killed two ISIS-K ‘planners and facilitators’ in response to the deadly suicide bomb attack.
‘I said we would go after the group responsible for the attack on our troops and innocent civilians in Kabul, and we have. This strike was not the last. We will continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay,’ Biden said in the written statement.
The Taliban condemned the US drone strike, with a spokesman describing the operation as a ‘clear attack on Afghan territory’.
‘The Americans should have informed us before conducting the airstrike,’ spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters on Saturday.
However, Mujahid later took to Twitter to disavow the interview, writing: ‘Reuters has interviewed me and distorted my words. I urge the media and journalists not to take these words seriously.’
Mujahid claimed that two women and a child were wounded in the drone strike. The Pentagon says it is not aware of any civilian casualties.
The Pentagon earlier confirmed that two ISIS-K targets were killed and one wounded in the drone strike responding to the suicide attack in Kabul, after earlier confirming only one kill.
President Joe Biden has said that another attack on the Kabul airport could be imminent, while vowing that his revenge strike for an ISIS-K attack that killed 13 US troops is ‘not the last’
Marines are seen manning a checkpoint at the Kabul airport on Thursday. Thirteen US troops were killed when a suicide bomb went off near this checkpoint, also killing some 160 Afghans
Soldiers are seen manning an checkpoint at the Kabul airport earlier this week. ‘The situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous, and the threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high,’ said Biden
Army Major Gen. William D. ‘Hank’ Taylor said at a Pentagon briefing on Saturday that two ISIS-K targets had been killed and one wounded in the drone strike in Afghanistan
Taliban patrols outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday. The Taliban has now effectively sealed off the airport, and the US Embassy is warning any Americans not to approach the gates
The US Embassy issued another urgent alert on Saturday local time saying citizens should avoid the airport
The two killed targets were ‘high profile’, but were not senior members of ISIS-K, Army Major Gen. William D. ‘Hank’ Taylor said at a Pentagon briefing on Saturday, saying there were no known civilian casualties.
The retaliatory strike was launched a day after an ISIS-K suicide bomber blew himself up outside the walls of Kabul airport, killing 13 US troops and scores of Afghan civilians.
The terror threat at the airport remains ‘very real’ and ‘very dynamic’ Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Saturday.
‘Threats are still very real, they’re very dynamic and we are monitoring them literally in real time. And as I said yesterday, we’re taking all the means necessary to make syre we remain focused on that threat stream and doing what we can for force protection,’ Kirby said at a briefing.
The Pentagon described the two targets killed in the drone strike as a ‘planner’ and ‘facilitator’ of ISIS-K plots who were involved in planning additional future attacks in Kabul, but declined to name them.
‘They lost a planner and they lost a facilitator and got one wounded. The fact that two of these individuals are no longer walking on the face of the Earth, that’s a good thing,’ said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that Reuters had ‘distorted’ his words after he slammed the US drone strike
It was not immediately clear whether the targeted ISIS-K members were directly involved in Thursday’s airport attack. The U.S. military had initially said one person was killed.
‘They were ISIS-K planners and facilitators and that’s enough reason there alone. I won’t speak to the details of these individuals and what their specific roles might be,’ Kirby said. He added: ‘We have the ability and the means to carry over the horizon counterterrorism capabilities and we´re going to defend ourselves.’
Kirby declined to say whether all three suspects were intentional targets of the strike, saying: ‘It was a single mission to get these targets and as the assessments and information flowed over time, we were able to recognize that another was killed as well and one wounded.’
Another defense official told CNN that the strike on Friday only took place after surveillance on the compound confirmed the target’s wife and children had left.
Biden authorized the drone strike and it was ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet publicly announced.
The Pentagon said that 6,800 people had been evacuated from Afghanistan in the past 24 hours, and that 1,400 people are now screened and inside the airport for processing and removal.
Since July, 117,000 people have been evacuated by US and NATO forces, including 5,400 US citizens, said Taylor.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the US drone strike on ISIS-K as a ‘clear attack on Afghan territory’ but later disavowed the statement, saying that Reuters had ‘distorted’ his words
‘They lost a planner and they lost a facilitator and got one wounded. The fact that two of these individuals are no longer walking on the face of the Earth, that’s a good thing,’ said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby
The Pentagon said on Saturday that two ISIS-K targets had been killed in the drone strike responding to the suicide attack in Kabul, after earlier confirming only one kill
Afghan families live in a temporary shelter at a park in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday after the Taliban sealed off the airport
However, hope for escape is dwindling for anyone not already inside the airport, after the Taliban sealed off access to the airport on Saturday to most Afghans hoping to leave.
The Pentagon insisted that some gates at the airport remain open and that US passport holders can still get in.
However, the US Embassy in Kabul issued an urgent alert on Saturday warning citizens not to approach the airport and avoid airport gates.
‘U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey gate, East gate, North gate or the New Ministry of Interior gate now should leave immediately,’ the Embassy said in the alert.
Mujahid, the Taliban’s main spokesman said on Saturday they would announce a new government for Afghanistan in the coming week.
He appealed to the United States and other Western nations to maintain diplomatic relations after their withdrawal, which he expected would be completed ‘very soon’.
There is mounting frustration in Kabul at the severe economic hardship caused by a plummeting currency and rising food prices, with banks still shuttered two weeks after the fall of the city to the Taliban.
Mujahid said officials had already been appointed to run key institutions including the ministries of public health and education and the central bank.
Meanwhile, the US rescue operation is entering in its final hours ahead of President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline for withdrawal, and US troops will now shift their focus to the final removal or destruction of equipment and extraction of service members.
Most NATO nations have now flown out their troops after two decades in Afghanistan, winding down a frantic airlift that Western leaders acknowledged was still leaving many of their citizens and local allies behind.
The United States, which says the round-the-clock flights have evacuated more than 100,000 people since the Taliban claimed Kabul on August 15, was keeping up airlifts ahead of Biden’s Tuesday deadline.
A Taliban militant patrols outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday. The airport has now been reportedly sealed off as the evacuation ends
U.S. service members assist with security at an Evacuation Control Check Point (ECC) during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday
Britain also was carrying out its final evacuation flights Saturday, though Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to ‘shift heaven and earth’ to get more of those at risk from the Taliban to Britain by other means.
Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Laurie Bristow, said in a video from Kabul airport and posted on Twitter that it was ‘time to close this phase of the operation now.’
‘But we haven´t forgotten the people who still need to leave,’ he said. ‘We´ll continue to do everything we can to help them. Nor have we forgotten the brave, decent people of Afghanistan. They deserve to live in peace and security.’
Taliban forces were holding some positions within the airport, ready to peacefully take control as American forces fly out, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
The Pentagon stressed Friday that the Taliban, who now run Afghanistan, were not in control of any operations at the airport.
A Taliban Badri fighter, a ‘special forces’ unit, stands guard on Humvee vehicle at the main entrance gate of Kabul airport in Kabul on Saturday, following the Taliban stunning military takeover of Afghanistan
Outside the airport, Taliban leaders deployed extra forces Saturday to prevent large crowds from gathering after a devastating suicide attack two days earlier,
New layers of checkpoints sprang up on roads leading to the airport, some manned by uniformed Taliban fighters with Humvees and night-vision goggles captured from Afghan security forces.
Areas where large crowds had gathered over the past two weeks in the hopes of fleeing the country were largely empty.
A suicide attack Thursday by an Islamic State group affiliate killed 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, and there were concerns that the group, which is far more radical than the Taliban, could strike again. The U.S. military said it killed an IS militant early Saturday in a drone strike, after U.S. President Joe Biden promised swift retaliation.
An Afghan who worked as a translator for the U.S. military said he was with a group of people with permission to leave who tried to reach the airport late Friday. After passing through three checkpoints they were stopped at a fourth. An argument ensued, and the Taliban said they had been told by the Americans to only let U.S. passport-holders through.
‘I am so hopeless for my future,’ the man told The Associated Press after returning to Kabul, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. ‘If the evacuation is over, what will happen to us?’
People are seen carrying an injured person to a hospital after an attack at Kabul airport on Thursday
Marines secure the airport on Thursday. The rescue operation is now in its final hours ahead of President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline
Finnish coalition forces assist evacuees for onward processing during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport earlier this week
The Pentagon said Friday that Afghans with the proper documents still were being allowed in.
On Saturday, the Taliban fired warning shots and deployed some kind of colored smoke on a road leading to the airport, sending dozens of people scattering, according to a video circulating online that was consistent with AP reporting.
Afghans, meanwhile, faced economic crises as many Western governments withheld support from Taliban rule.
In Kabul, hundreds of protesters, including many civil servants, gathered outside a bank while countless more lined up at cash machines. They said they hadn’t been paid for three to six months and were unable to withdraw cash. ATM machines were still operating, but withdrawals were limited to about $200 every 24 hours.
Later Saturday, the central bank ordered commercial bank branches to open and allow customers to withdraw $200 per week, calling it a temporary measure.
The economic crisis, which predates the Taliban takeover, could give Western nations leverage as they urge Afghanistan’s new rulers to form a moderate, inclusive government and allow people to leave after Tuesday.
Afghanistan is heavily dependent on international aid, which covered around 75% of the toppled Western-backed government’s budget. The Taliban have said they want good relations with the international community and have promised a more moderate form of Islamic rule than when they last governed the country, but many Afghans are deeply skeptical.
The Taliban cannot access almost any of the central bank´s $9 billion in reserves, most of which is held by the New York Federal Reserve. The International Monetary Fund has also suspended the transfer of some $450 million. Without a regular supply of U.S. dollars, the local currency is at risk of collapse, which could send the price of basic goods soaring.
U.S. Soliders with the 82nd Airborne Division check evacuees during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul earlier this week
U.S. Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command, assist with security at an Evacuation Control Checkpoint (ECC)
A U.S. Marine escorts a young girl at an Evacuation Control Checkpoint (ECC) during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Wednesday
A U.N. agency warned Saturday that a worsening drought threatens the livelihoods of more than 7 million people. The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said Afghans are also suffering from the coronavirus pandemic and displacement from the recent fighting.
Earlier this month, the U.N. World Food Program estimated that about 14 million people – roughly one out of every three Afghans – urgently needed food assistance.
Biden has said he will adhere to a self-imposed Tuesday deadline for withdrawing all U.S. forces. The Taliban, who control nearly the entire country outside of Kabul’s airport, have rejected any extension.
Italy said its final evacuation flight had landed in Rome but that it would work with the United Nations and countries bordering Afghanistan to continue helping Afghans who had worked with its military contingent to leave the country.
‘Our imperative must be to not abandon the Afghan people,’ especially women and children, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Saturday.
The Taliban have encouraged Afghans to stay, pledging amnesty even to those who fought against them. They have said commercial flights will resume after the U.S. withdrawal, but it’s unclear if airlines will be willing to offer service.
The U.S. and its allies have said they will continue providing humanitarian aid through the U.N. and other partners, but any broader engagement – including development assistance – is likely to hinge on whether the Taliban deliver on their promises of more moderate rule.
Taliban fighters beat up a cameraman for the private broadcaster Tolo TV earlier this week in Kabul. Saad Mohseni, the CEO of the group that owns the channel, said the Taliban have been in touch with the station’s management about the incident. He said the fighter has been identified, but it’s unclear if he has faced any disciplinary action. There was no comment from the Taliban.
