In the hours after Thursday’s 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 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.
About 169 Afghan people died, officials told the Associated Press. CBS News was reporting that number at 170.
The Pentagon plans to conduct a “thorough investigation” to answer several unanswered questions about Thursday’s terrorist attack and to analyze the security measures taken ahead of time to protect U.S. troops. The U.S. now believes there was one suicide bombing, which was detonated at the airport’s Abbey Gate, not a second bombing initially reported near the Baron Hotel.
“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 did not deter a crowd from massing outside the airport’s gates. For instance, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reported, “The number of people around the airport has grown dramatically since” Thursday. “We have seen thousands of people scrambling up against a wall there, desperate to get on the few remaining planes.”
Taliban tells some women to go back to work
The Taliban on Friday has told female staff at the Ministry of Public Health that it is safe to return to work.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban, tweeted Friday morning that, “There is no impediment from the Islamic Emirate to carrying out their work.”
Earlier in the week, it was widely reported that Mujahid at a press conference told women to stay at home out of concern that fighters for the fundamentalist group needed additional training on how to guarantee their safety. — Katie Wadington
‘Thousands’ of ISIS-K prisoners escaped
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday the U.S. doesn’t know the exact number of ISIS-K prisoners who were freed by the Taliban as they seized prisons from Afghan forces but said “clearly it’s in the thousands.”
Kirby was referring to two prisons, including one at the Bagram Airfield, which the U.S. handed over to Afghan security forces in July. The prison was emptied before the Taliban seized control of Kabul.
Asked why U.S. forces didn’t relocate ISIS-K prisoners to somewhere else before the drawdown, Kirby said Afghan forces were responsible for those bases in accordance with a retrograde plan established in April.
“We didn’t see the level of resistance by the Afghans to hold some territory, some bases and unfortunately, those were bases that the Afghans, didn’t hold,” he said. — Courtney Subramanian
The Pentagon said “specific, credible threats” remain at the Kabul airport one day after a suicide bombing and gun attack from ISIS-K killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 169 Afghan civilians.
“We still believe there are credible threats,” Defense Department press secretary John Kirby said. “In fact, I would say specific, credible threats.”
Kirby defended the military’s efforts to protect troops ahead of the attack, but said, “Clearly, all of that effort — and there was a lot of effort — fell short in some way.”
He said the military plans to conduct an investigation to determine what went wrong. “It will be a very complete, thorough investigation,” Kirby said. — Joey Garrison
5,400 people await evacuation from Kabul
The Pentagon said Friday that 5,400 people are awaiting to depart Afghanistan, after thousands were evacuated from the country in the last 24 hours.
Maj. Gen. William Taylor said that 12,500 people were evacuated from Kabul in the past 24 hours. He noted that 300 Americans were evacuated in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of Americans airlifted to about 5,100.
“We continue to maximize our efficiency,” Taylor said. “And since U.S. and coalition forces began the evacuation, approximately 111,000 evacuees have departed safely.” — Rebecca Morin
Only 1 bombings during Kabul airport terrorist attack, US says
The U.S. no longer believes there were two bombings in Thursday’s terrorist attack at the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members, the Pentagon said Friday.
Maj. Gen. William Taylor said the Pentagon now believes there was only one suicide bombing during the attack that occurred at the Abbey Gate of the airport. He said there was not a suicide bombing near the Baron Hotel as the military initially reported.
He said he doesn’t know how it was misreported but pointed to the chaos after the attack.
“We thought it was important to correct the record,” he said. — Joey Garrison
Congress raises concern over Taliban, calls for continued evacuations
Some congressional Democrats called for evacuations to continue after an explosion near the airport in Kabul killed 13 U.S. military members and at least 169 Afghans as Republicans ramped up their criticism of President Joe Biden’s handling of the exit.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the U.S. still needed to evacuate every American who wants to leave the country along with allied partners and Afghans who aided U.S. efforts in the country.
Others said the U.S. needed to bring to justice those responsible for the attack.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., questioned relying on the Taliban.
“As we wait for more details to come in, one thing is clear: We can’t trust the Taliban with Americans’ security,” the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in a prepared statement.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Congress shared bipartisan concerns about the “security and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan,” and called on the Biden Administration to continue briefing members.
Republicans, though, lobbed demands for widespread resignations at administration officials, including Biden, over its handling of the withdrawal.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called on Pelosi to reconvene Congress before the Aug. 31 deadline so that it could stop the withdrawal until every American was evacuated.
“Horrific,” he tweeted after the blast. “Our enemies have taken advantage of the chaotic nature of Biden’s withdrawal.” — Rick Rouan
Biden officials to brief senators
Senior Biden officials are expected to brief senators Friday afternoon on the latest developments regarding Afghanistan.
The briefing will take place by phone at 1 p.m., according to a Senate aide.
Lawmakers have been seeking answers in the wake of a suicide bombing at Kabul airport Thursday that killed 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.
“This attack is a painful reminder of the danger that our brave troops and our diplomats face in helping thousands of American citizens and allies escape,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. — Ledyard King
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
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 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
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.”
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 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.
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