In the hours after Thursday’s suicide bombings near Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, evacuations of Americans and their allies restarted, an effort to get out as many civilians ahead of the military’s withdrawal, just four days away. The bombings did not deter a crowd from massing outside the airport’s gates.
The death toll from the blasts includes 11 U.S. Marines, a Navy hospital corpsman, and another service member whose branch was not immediately identified, American officials said. At least 18 U.S. service members were injured. It was the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since August 2011.
Vets react:Kabul bomb attack that killed US troops amid Afghanistan evacuation leaves some veterans reeling
About 169 Afghan people died, officials told the Associated Press. CBS News was reporting that number at 170.
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” President Joe Biden said on Thursday evening.
The bombings, which occurred near the Abbey Gate on the airport’s civilian side, hit hours after Western officials warned of a major attack on the airport. Islamic State terror group ISIS-K claimed credit for the violence.
“Active threats against the airfield” remain, Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., head of the U.S. Center Command, warned at a Pentagon briefing on Thursday.
How it happened:Satellite images, graphics, and maps show how fatal airport, hotel explosions ripped through Kabul
Death toll jumps, with at least 169 Afghans killed
The death toll from Thursday’s bombings has increased sharply, to at least 169 Afghan people, according to the Associated Press on Friday morning. CBS News reported it at 170, according to an Afghan health official.
The blasts also killed 13 U.S. service members and wounded another 18 American military members.
– Katie Wadington
What we know:Biden: ‘We will not forgive’; Navy confirms 13th US service member killed in Kabul
On day of bombings, over 12K evacuated
The White House on Friday morning released the latest numbers on of Kabul airport evacuations. From about noon Thursday to noon Friday, Afghanistan time, approximately 12,500 people were evacuated. They left the country on 35 U.S. military flights, carrying 8,500 people, and 54 coalition flights, holding 4,000 people.
Evacuations resumed Thursday following the ISIS-K suicide blasts outside the airport that killed dozens of people.
That brings the total evacuated by the U.S. directly or with U.S. help to 105,000 people in the last 13 days.
– Katie Wadington
Obama ‘heartbroken’ over bombing
Former President Barack Obama offered his condolences to the families of service members killed Thursday in bombings in Afghanistan, saying he and former first lady Michelle Obama are “heartbroken.”
“As president, nothing was more painful than grieving with the loved ones of Americans who gave their lives serving our country,” Obama said. “As President Biden said, these service members are heroes who have been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others. Our hearts go out to the families who lost a loved one, and to everyone continuing the mission in Kabul.”
Obama also expressed his sympathy for families of Afghans killed, “many of whom stood by America and were willing to risk everything for a chance at a better life.”
– Katie Wadington
Related:From Bush to Biden: policies that led to the chaos in Afghanistan
WHO: Medical supplies almost gone in Afghanistan
The World Health Organization has a presence in all of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces but said Friday that its medical supplies are dwindling.
Amid the takeover of the Taliban and the COVID-19 pandemic, there are only a few days worth of supplies left, said Dr. Rick Brennan, a regional WHO director, told a UN press briefing Friday in Geneva. The WHO is looking for ways to bring more supplies into the country, as the Kabul airport isn’t an option.
Brennan said the situation in Afghanistan is volatile, made worse by Thursday’s ISIS-K attack.
– Katie Wadington
British Embassy left behind names of Afghan staff
LONDON — The U.K.’s defense chief promised Friday to “get to the bottom of” a security lapse that saw documents identifying Afghan staff members and job applicants left behind at the abandoned British Embassy in Kabul.
Times of London reporter Anthony Loyd said he found the papers scattered on the ground as he toured Kabul’s abandoned diplomatic district with a Taliban escort this week.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said “clearly it’s not good enough” that the documents were left unsecured. He said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson “will be asking some questions” about what had happened.
– Associated Press
At Kabul airport, a frantic scene
The scene at the airport is one of panic and chaos as U.S. forces continue evacuation procedures. Those injured in the attack were wheeled away, bloodied and dazed, on stretchers — even in wheelbarrows — by volunteers. The air above the airfield was thick was smoke as sirens filled the air after the blast.
A video on Twitter appeared to show bodies floating in a canal and piled on a sidewalk near an entrance to the airport.
“It was as if someone pulled the ground from under my feet; for a moment I thought my eardrums were blasted, and I lost my sense of hearing,” the man, who was not identified for fear of reprisal, told Insider. “It is not possible to see doomsday in this life, but today I saw doomsday, I witnessed it with my own eyes.”
What is ISIS-K:Islamic State terror group believed to have carried out Kabul attacks that killed 12 U.S. troops
Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said about 5,000 people were waiting at the airfield to be flown out of the country and evacuations would not slow following the attack.
About 1,000 U.S. citizens are believed to still be in Afghanistan. Heavy security and roadblocks set up by the Taliban make accessing the airport a challenge. And entry is nearly impossible now that U.S. forces have closed all gates due to the attack.
– Chelsey Cox
Crowd swells at Kabul airport, despite bombings
KABUL, Afghanistan — Evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday, a day after two suicide bombings targeted the thousands of desperate people fleeing the Taliban takeover and killed more than 100. The U.S. warned more attacks could come ahead of the Tuesday deadline for foreign troops to leave, ending America’s longest war.
As the call to prayer echoed Friday through Kabul along with the roar of departing planes, the anxious crowds outside the city’s airport appeared as large as ever despite the risks. They are acutely aware that the window is closing to board a flight before the airlift ends and Western troops withdraw.
Dozens of Taliban members carrying heavy weapons patrolled one area about 1,600 feet from the airport to prevent anyone from venturing beyond.
Thursday’s bombings near Kabul’s international airport killed at least 95 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops, Afghan and U.S. officials said.
Afghan officials warned that the true toll could be higher, with morgues stretched to capacity and the possibility that relatives are taking bodies away from the scene. One official said as many as 115 may have died. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
At least 10 bodies lay on the grounds outside Kabul’s Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital, where relatives said the mortuary could take no more. Afghans said many of the dead are unclaimed because family members are travelling from distant provinces.
– Associated Press
More:A timeline of the US withdrawal and Taliban recapture of Afghanistan
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