Afghanistan: Biden warns of another attack in Kabul

US President Biden fears another attack at Kabul airport within 24 to 36 hours. He has announced new retaliatory strikes against IS in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, US evacuation flights are continuing.

US President Joe Biden has warned of another attack in Kabul. An attack in the next 24 to 36 hours is highly likely. Military commanders would have told him this. He had instructed them to take all possible measures to protect the US troops. According to the US government, maximum security precautions have been taken at the airport.

Against this background, it will not be his “last” reaction to the serious attack at Kabul airport. In the devastating attack last Thursday, more than 150 Afghans and 13 US soldiers are believed to have been killed. Most recently, the US armed forces launched a drone attack on the Afghan offshoot of the IS terrorist group last night. The Pentagon announced that two ISIS members were killed in Nangarhar. Whether the people were directly involved in Thursday’s suicide attack remained open.

Killing of two ISIS members in a US attack

According to the spokesman for the US Department of Defense, John Kirby, those killed in the US attack were masterminds and sponsors of the Afghan IS branch. This was reason enough to take action against them. Another person was injured in the US attack. He does not want to give details about their identity or their specific role. However, the USA knew who she was. According to current knowledge, there are no civilian victims, said Major General William Taylor in the US Department of Defense.

President Biden had already announced retaliation in a first statement after the attack on Thursday. According to US security sources, he granted his commanders permission to attack targets of the Islamist group in Afghanistan shortly afterwards.

Kirby also emphasized that the terrorist threat at Kabul airport was by no means averted with the latest drone attack on IS members. The offshoot of the terror group has lost some skills when it comes to planning and executing attacks. But nobody says now: “Well, we got them. We don’t have to worry about ISIS-K,” explained Kirby using the English name for the Afghan ISIS arm.

USA continue evacuation flights

The US, meanwhile, continued its evacuation flights: The US military began with the final withdrawal of troops from Kabul airport, as Kirby announced. The US troops are supposed to leave Afghanistan by Tuesday, according to Biden’s will. After the Taliban came to power about two weeks ago, the US dispatched thousands of additional soldiers to secure the evacuation of US citizens and local workers. Of the more than 5,000 US military personnel until recently, 4,000 are still on duty at the airport, said a US informant. For security reasons, Kirby did not want to give any details about the troop withdrawal.

Yesterday, the remains of 13 US soldiers who were killed in the suicide attack at Kabul Airport were also flown to the United States, according to the Pentagon. The US Department of Defense announced the identity of the 13 dead soldiers. There were eleven members of the Marines, a sailor in the Navy and a soldier in the US Army.

Planned agreements with the Taliban

Biden and other Western heads of state and government want to seek arrangements with the Taliban to enable local forces to leave the country even after the international evacuations have ended. Such talks were already underway between France and the Islamist group, said President Emmanuel Macron.

By yesterday afternoon, a total of 117,000 people of various nationalities had been flown out of Afghanistan. An unknown number of threatened Afghans who fear the Taliban’s revenge are likely to remain in Afghanistan.