Posted on 08/26/2021 9:05:47 AM PDT by Red Badger
KABUL, Afghanistan - A pair of suicide bombers and gunmen outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan killed at least 13 people and wounded another 15, believed to have been carried out by the Islamic State group. At least three U.S. Marines were reportedly among those hurt.
Western nations had warned earlier in the day of a possible attack at the airport in the waning days of a massive airlift. A U.S. official said the complex attack was "definitely believed" to have been carried out by the Islamic State group, whose affiliate in Afghanistan grew out of disaffected Taliban members who hold an even more extreme view of Islam.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry gave the first official casualty count, saying 13 people had died and 15 were wounded. U.S. officials confirmed the Marines’ injuries to FOX News.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby also confirmed the blasts, saying one outside of Kabul’s international airport at the Abbey Gate was a "complex attack" and another was a short distance away by a hotel. He said the explosions had resulted in "a number of U.S. and civilian casualties."
The explosion outside the airport happened in a crowd of people waiting to enter, according to Adam Khan, an Afghan waiting nearby. He said several people appeared to have been killed or wounded, including some who lost body parts.
Multiple countries urged people to avoid the airport earlier in the day, with one saying there was a threat of a suicide bombing. But just days — or even hours for some nations — before the evacuation effort ends, few appeared to heed the call.
The White House said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the attack.
Over the last week, the airport has been the scene of some of the most searing images of the chaotic end of America's longest war and the Taliban's takeover, as flights took off around the clock carrying those who fear a return to the militants' brutal rule.
Already, some countries have ended their evacuations and begun to withdraw their soldiers and diplomats, signaling the beginning of the end of one of history's largest airlifts. The Taliban has pledged not to attack Western forces during the evacuation, but insist the foreign troops must be out by America's self-imposed deadline of Aug. 31.
Overnight, warnings emerged from Western capitals about a threat from Afghanistan’s Islamic State group affiliate, which likely has seen its ranks boosted by the Taliban’s freeing of prisoners during their blitz across the country.
British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey told the BBC early Thursday there was "very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack" at the airport, possibly within "hours." Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said his country had received information from the U.S. and other countries about the "threat of suicide attacks on the mass of people."
The acting U.S. ambassador to Kabul, Ross Wilson, said the security threat at the Kabul airport overnight was "clearly regarded as credible, as imminent, as compelling." But in an interview with ABC News, he would not give details and did not say whether the threat remained.
A while later, the blast was reported.
Late Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy warned citizens at three airport gates to leave immediately due to an unspecified security threat. Australia, Britain and New Zealand also advised their citizens Thursday not to go to the airport, with Australia's foreign minister saying there was a "very high threat of a terrorist attack."
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that any attack was imminent in the wake of those warnings.
Earlier Thursday, the Taliban sprayed a water cannon at those gathered at one airport gate to try to drive the crowd away, as someone launched tear gas canisters elsewhere.
Nadia Sadat, a 27-year-old Afghan, carried her 2-year-old daughter with her outside the airport. She and her husband, who had worked with coalition forces, missed a call from a number they believed was the State Department and were trying to get into the airport without any luck. Her husband had pressed ahead in the crowd to try to get them inside.
"We have to find a way to evacuate because our lives are in danger," Sadat said. "My husband received several threatening messages from unknown sources. We have no chance except escaping."
Gunshots later echoed in the area as Sadat waited. "There is anarchy because of immense crowds," she said, blaming the U.S. for the chaos.
Senior U.S. officials said Wednesday's warning from the embassy was related to specific threats involving the Islamic State group and potential vehicle bombs. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing military operations.
Blinken: 1,500 Americans in Afghanistan still need to be evacuated The State Department issued new guidance on the estimate of Americans that are still in Afghanistan amid the Taliban takeover.
The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan grew out of disaffected Taliban members who hold an even more extreme view of Islam. The Sunni extremists have carried out a series of brutal attacks, mainly targeting Afghanistan's Shiite Muslim minority, including a 2020 assault on a maternity hospital in Kabul in which they killed women and infants.
The Taliban has fought against Islamic State militants in Afghanistan. But IS fighters were likely freed from prisons along with other inmates during the Taliban's rapid advance. Extremists may have seized heavy weapons and equipment abandoned by Afghan troops.
Amid the warnings and the pending American withdrawal, Canada ended its evacuations, and European nations halted or prepared to stop their own operations.
"The reality on the ground is the perimeter of the airport is closed. The Taliban have tightened the noose. It’s very, very difficult for anybody to get through at this point," said Canadian General Wayne Eyre, the country’s acting Chief of Defense Staff.
H/T GOPJ
Not one of those 100,000 Afghans we flew to safety brought an American with them to the airport to help them escape.
Most of them not only did NOT bring an American - they were unvetted. And they left their wives and children and flew to safety and the US gravy train without them. Who are they? .................................
CALL l (202) 224-3121 for the U.S. House switchboard operator.
.............................................
Up To 100 Afghan Evacuees Flown Out Of Kabul Are On US Terror
........internal and public polling showed the Afghanistan withdrawal was popular ....... to make Biden and Democrats popular with voters....but it backfired due to Bidens enormous stupidity ......
Obama’s DNA is all over this crime against humanity:
<><>Muslim Afghans pouring into America
<><>stranding Americans to the mercies of brutal terrorists
<><>empowering the Taliban
<><>enriching the Taliban w/ American military hardware
It was a mostly peaceful suicide bombing, though, wasn’t it?
Mostly peaceful suicide bombings?
So, what are the American people going to be told, that these were part of the “acceptable” deaths associated with the pullout from Afghanistan? And that there would have been many more under Trump’s plan?
Impeach Pedo Joe? Hell, arrest him for treason!
Meanwhile Serpent Head James Carville things that coverage of what is going on in Afghanistan is over played. His head is up his butt therefore he does not see what is going on.
I expect the Left to come out with, “But.....but.......Reagan in Lebanon!”
How long before they shoot down an air plane...
Joe Biden holds the bag of .... without the bag.
It looks like you pasted something into your tagline. It’s a good thing it wasn’t personal information.
Give him a reduced sentence if he names names.
Otherwise,waterboard him. Who is pulling his strings.
That’s why I call the situation now and HIM Afbidenstan!
Didn’t Biden say, “there aren’t any ISIS in Afghanistan”? That is why they are creating ISIS-K. Joe failed with his “new Taliban” negotiations and control which was a mistake. Now, BIDEN & Company will defend the Taliban as innocent bystanders to these attacks.
We should drop a couple of moabs on the taliban government in the palace building tomorrow when they are there
Hell, arrest him for treason!
......................................
There is no one in America in a leadership position with the power to do it who has not been bought or intimidated by the Marxist-controlled Obama/Biden regimes.
....with all due respect to Toby Keith......let these lyrics sink in......
“. . .Now this nation that I love has fallen under attack
A mighty sucker punch came flyin’ in from somewhere in the back
Soon as we could see clearly
Through our big black eye
Man, we lit up your world
Like the fourth of July
* * *
Justice will be served and the battle will rage
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage
And you’ll be sorry that you messed with
The U.S. of A.
‘Cause we’ll put a boot in your ass
It’s the American way. . . .”
....ah, well, where’s that boot in the Taliban’s ass, I want to know........numerous casualties from today’s two bombings around the Kabul airport....including U.S. Marines.....
Thanks, Joe Biden, you piece of s**t of a President....!!
Anyone surprised ??
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