Warning: This story contains material that some viewers may find disturbing due to the graphic nature.
Currents News Staff
Thirteen U.S. personnel and scores of Afghans have been killed in a terror attack on the Kabul airport.
U.S. Central Command says that 18 service members were also wounded in a complex attack which the Afghan ministry of public health said injured more than 100 other people. The scenes of horror come in the waning days of America’s unprecedented civilian airlift.
Central Command’s General Kenneth Mckenzie said that more attacks were anticipated:
“We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks and we expect those attacks to continue, and we are doing everything we can to be prepared for those attacks.”
The bombings targeted many who were trying in vain to get into Kabul airport, and get one of the last evacuation flights.
The Taliban condemned the murders and pledged to punish those behind it. The blasts were just outside Abbey Gate – one of the main entrances to the airport, and near a hotel controlled and occupied until recently by British forces.
It’s an area that’s been packed for days with Afghans wading through sewage canals, bounded by blast walls. Those conditions will surely have amplified the explosion. American officials have been warning about potential ISIS-K attacks for days.
On Wednesday, Aug. 25, they stepped up the alarm, talking about “a very specific threat stream” from ISIS-K about a planned attack on crowds outside the airport. The Americans were killed when in close contact screening and searching evacuees at the Abbey Gate.
Gen. Mckenzie is pledging that this atrocity would not affect the evacuation effort.
“ISIS will not deter us from accomplishing the mission. I can assure you that,” he said.
But this is a dangerous time for the U.S.-led coalition mission. It’s due to end by an Aug. 31 deadline – as troops withdraw they become more vulnerable.
It’s damaging for the Taliban too. Sworn enemies of ISIS-K, they promised the U.S. airport security and safety at home for Afghans. These attacks suggest they have delivered neither.