The U.S. carried out an airstrike Sunday in Kabul as President Joe Biden arrived at Dover Air Force Base to meet with the families of U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing at the airport last week.
A U.S. official confirmed the airstrike in Kabul after multiple news organizations reported an explosion in a residential neighborhood near the airprot.
Citing the Taliban, the Associated Press reported the airstrike hit a suicide bomber that was targeting the Kabul airport.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul had warned of a "specific credible threat" and urged those hoping to evacuate to leave the airport. President Joe Biden said Saturday the Kabul airport was "highly likely" to be the target of another attack before the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.
A blast at the airport on Thursday killed 13 U.S. service members and more tha169 Afghans. A retaliatory U.S. drone strike on Friday killed two ISIS-K members.
U.S. conducts airstrike Sunday in Kabul
U.S. forces conducted an airstrike Sunday in Kabul, a U.S. official said.
The strike came after President Joe Biden warned Saturday of an imminent attack on the airport where U.S. troops are completing the civilian evacuation and preparing a final retreat from the 20-year U.S. war there.
It is the second known airstrike on ISIS-K terrorists since a suicide bomber killed 13 American troops and more than 169 Afghans, at the airport on Thursday. On Friday, a drone attack killed two ISIS-K militants who planned and facilitated attacks, according to the Pentagon.
— Tom Vanden Brook
Citing Taliban, AP reports U.S. airstrike hits suicide bomber targeting Kabul airport
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban said that a U.S. airstrike targeted a suicide bomber in a vehicle Sunday who wanted to attack the Kabul international airport amid the American military’s evacuation there.
There were few initial details about the incident, as well as a rocket that struck a neighborhood just northwest of the airport, killing a child. The two strikes initially appeared to be separate incidents, though information on both remained scarce.
Reuters reported the U.S. had carried out a strike in Kabul, and BBC reported that an explosion had occurred.
Citing an Afghan police chief, the Associated Press reported a rocket struck a neighborhood northwest of the airport, killing a child. Reuters reported the U.S. had carried out a strike in Kabul.
Zabihullah Mujahid said in a message to journalists that the strike targeted the bomber as he drove a vehicle loaded with explosives. Mujahid offered few other details.
U.S. military officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
The rocket attack meanwhile struck Kabul’s Khuwja Bughra neighborhood, said Rashid, the Kabul police chief who goes by one name. Video obtained by The Associated Press in the aftermath of the attack showed smoke rising from building at the site around a kilometer (half a mile) from the airport.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
— Associated Press
White House: 300 Americans left to evacuate amid ‘serious danger’
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the number of Americans still waiting for evacuation from Afghanistan is now at 300 even as the operation remains a high-risk operation.
“We are in a period of serious danger given what we are seeing in the intelligence.,” Sullivan told CNN’s State of the Union Sunday. “We are taking every possible measure ... to ensure that our forces are protected on the ground.”
The U.S faces a self-imposed deadline Tuesday to evacuate Americans who want to escape. Sullivan said some 300 were evacuated Saturday two days after a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. service members.
— Ledyard King
2,900 more people evacuated from Afghanistan
The White House released the latest statistics on evacuations from the Kabul airport on Sunday.
In the 24 hours that ended at 3 a.m. Sunday, about 2,900 people were evacuated from Kabul. About 2,200 evacuees were aboard U.S. military flights, while 700 left on coalition flights.
The latest numbers brought the total evacuees since Aug. 14 to about 114,400 people.
— Rick Rouan
Biden to meet with families of slain service members
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are scheduled on Sunday morning to meet with the families of American service members killed in a suicide bombing last week at the Kabul airport.
The Bidens are scheduled to participate in a "dignified transfer," where slain service members are returned to the U.S., at noon Sunday at Dover Air Force Base.
The blast on Thursday killed 13 U.S. service members, including 11 Marines, one Navy corpsman and one Army soldier along with at least 169 Afghans.
— Rick Rouan
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