WASHINGTON: American forces in Kabul were bracing for more Islamic State attacks while winding up their evacuation mission, US officials said, as the number of US troops killed in Thursday's (Aug 26) suicide bomb attack rose to 13.
A US official told Reuters the number of US personnel killed was likely to rise even higher. More than a dozen were wounded.
The attack marked the first US military casualties in Afghanistan since February 2020 and represented the deadliest incident for American troops in the country in a decade.
At least two explosions tore through crowds that had thronged the gates of Hamid Karzai International Airport desperate to leave Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power almost two weeks ago ahead of US President Joe Biden's Aug 31 deadline to withdraw American troops after two decades.
In a statement, Islamic State claimed responsibility and said one of its suicide bombers had targeted "translators and collaborators with the American army."
Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie, head of the US military's Central Command, told a news briefing the explosions were followed by gunfight. McKenzie said the threat from Islamic State persists alongside "other active threat streams."
"We believe it is their desire to continue these attacks and we expect those attacks to continue - and we're doing everything we can to be prepared," McKenzie said.
McKenzie added that future potential attacks could include rockets being fired at the airport or car bombs attempting to get in. McKenzie said he saw nothing that would convince him that Taliban forces had let the attack take place.
US officials said one bomb detonated near the airport's Abbey Gate and the other was close to the nearby Baron Hotel.
RACE AGAINST TIME
A massive airlift of US and other foreign nationals and their families as well as some Afghans has been under way since the day before Taliban forces captured Kabul on Aug 15, capping a swift advance across the country as American and allied troops withdrew.
The United States has been racing to carry out the airlift before its military is set to fully withdraw from the country by Aug 31. McKenzie said the evacuation mission was not going to stop.
"I think we can continue to conduct our mission, even while we are receiving attacks like this," McKenzie said, adding that US forces will "go after" the perpetrators of Thursday's attack.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvc3VpY2lkZS1ib21iaW5ncy1rYWJ1bC1haXJwb3J0LWtpbGwtMTItdXMtdHJvb3BzLXRocmVhdC1wZXJzaXN0cy1wZW50YWdvbi1zYXlzLTIxMzc5ODbSAQA?oc=5
2021-08-26 19:35:00Z
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