Joe Biden has promised to “hunt down” the Islamic State terrorists responsible for the Kabul airport suicide attack on Thursday which killed 13 US troops and at least 60 Afghans.
It was America’s deadliest day in Afghanistan for a decade and ramped up pressure on the US president, with Republicans saying he had “blood on his hands”.
In an address to the nation, Mr Biden said the US believed it knew the identities of the leaders behind the attack, and he had ordered his military to plan strikes.
He said: “Know this: we will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay.”
The devastating attack, claimed by Islamic State, hit crowds awaiting evacuation from the Afghan capital threw the final hours of international airlifts from Kabul airport into chaos. On Thursday night, the Pentagon said 15 US service members had also been injured in the blasts.
The explosions tore through early evening crowds only hours after the UK Government had warned Britons and refugees to keep away from the airport because such an attack was considered imminent.
Afghan civilians carried the injured to hospital in wheelbarrows while body parts filled a sewage canal where hundreds had massed in an attempt to gain access to the airport.
US forces closed the gates to the airport and were reported to be welding them shut after the explosion, raising fears that the attack would cut short the evacuation effort for thousands of Afghans at risk of Taliban reprisals.
Mr Biden said the US would not be “intimidated” and the evacuation would continue. He took responsibility for “all that’s happened” but stood by his decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Hoarse, and tearing up, he said: “Tough day. Jill and I, our hearts ache. We’re outraged as well as heartbroken.”
Boris Johnson vowed that Britain would continue with the final stages of its operation, saying: “It isn’t going to interrupt our progress. We are going to get on with this evacuation.”
A UK source said: “I suspect there are many, many people already inside to clear, so I am not sure it is the end. Every hour matters.”
But other nations said they were no longer able to continue. “The doors at the airport are now closed and it is no longer possible to get people in,” Ine Eriksen Soereide, the Norwegian foreign minister, said as he announced the end of his country’s efforts. Germany on Thursday night also declared its airlift over.
Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, said he had called Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, to express sorrow at the attack. He added: “The UK and US remain resolute in our mission to get as many people out as possible.”
The Pentagon said it expected more terrorist attacks. Marine Corps General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr, commander of US Central Command, said: “We expect them to continue. Despite this attack, we are continuing the mission.”
Mr Biden cancelled engagements including a visit from Israel’s new prime minister as he was briefed in the Situation Room with his national security officials. Kamala Harris, the US Vice President, joined the meeting virtually from Air Force 2 as she flew from Vietnam to Guam.
American evacuation flights continued on Thursday night, but Mr Biden has insisted all US troops will leave the country by the end of the month. There was no indication that the president planned to change his Aug 31 withdrawal deadline, a White House official said.
It was “highly likely” the attack was carried out by the local branch of the Islamic State group, both US and British defence sources said. The group later claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram account.
The first blast hit the Abbey gate into Kabul’s airport complex. Minutes later, another explosion happened outside the fortified Baron hotel, which had been acting as a staging point for the British rescue airlift.
This was followed by a small arms assault but UK troops were not engaged in the firefight, a senior UK defence source said.
Twelve US Marines and one Navy medic were reported dead, while a Taliban official told Reuters on Friday at least 28 members of the Taliban were among the people killed. Afghan health officials reported at least 40 deaths, and Kabul’s main emergency hospital said it had admitted more than 60 wounded.
The Taliban blamed American forces for not stopping the attacks, saying they had happened in an area in which they were responsible for security.
The death toll looked certain to rise on Thursday night as footage of the aftermath showed large numbers of dead and wounded in the street outside the airport. Bodies could be seen in the stagnant drainage canal in which families had waded as they tried to get to the front of airport queues.
“Bodies, flesh and people were thrown into a canal nearby,” a witness called Milad said at the scene of the first blast.
A second witness said: “When people heard the explosion, there was total panic. The Taliban then started firing in the air to disperse the crowd at the gate. I will never ever want to go [to the airport] again. Death to America, its evacuation and visas.”
The Ministry of Defence said there were no British military or government casualties. James Heappey, the Armed Forces minister, had warned earlier in the day that threat intelligence on the risk of an attack by Islamic State was “very credible, very imminent, very lethal”.
He said: “Islamic State is acutely aware that there is a closing window for people to leave, that is concentrating people towards the airport and that is giving them an opportunity to do something that would regard as spectacular.”
Mr Heappey told one interviewer that an attack was considered so likely he had been briefed by aides on what might happen if a bomb went off during his media appearances.
He said: “I don’t think everybody should be surprised by this – Daesh, or Islamic State, are guilty of all sorts of evil. But the opportunism of wanting to target a major international humanitarian mission is just utterly deplorable, but sadly true to form for an organisation as barbarous as Daesh.”
Tom Tugendhat MP, chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee said: “The attack on innocent people at Kabul airport simply trying to escape the horror of Taliban rule shows exactly who the group has brought with them.”
Earlier in the day, an Italian C-130 military transporter full of Afghan civilian evacuees had been forced to take emergency manoeuvres as bullets were fired across its path.
“Inside, we all jumped – but luckily they did not hit us and we are fine,” said Giuliano Foschini, a La Repubblica journalist on board.
As the deadline approached, several countries said they had already ended their airlifts. Canada and Poland said they had halted rescue operations, and the Dutch said theirs would end on Thursday evening. France said its operation would finish on Friday.
“We stayed in Afghanistan for as long as we could… we wish we could have stayed longer and rescued everyone,” General Wayne Eyre, Canada’s acting chief of the defence staff, said. “That we could not is truly heartbreaking, but the circumstances on the ground rapidly deteriorated.”
Jens Stoltenberg, Nato secretary general, said the alliance’s priority was still to “evacuate as many people to safety as quickly as possible”.(The telegraph UK)
