Dubai: Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for the attack outside the Kabul airport which took place Thursday. On the other hand, US President Joe Biden has pledged to hunt down the perpetrators of the crime and said that the US will hunt down anyone who wishes to harm it.
Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport killing at least 72 civilians and 13 US troops. The IS branch, known as The Islamic State-Khorasan Province after a name for the region from antiquity, said in its claim of responsibility that it targetted American troops and their Afghan allies.
The statement carried a photo of what the militant group said was the bomber who carried out the attack. The image shows the alleged attacker standing with the explosive belt in front of the black IS flag with a black cloth covering his face, only his eyes showing. The statement made no mention of a second suicide bomber or gunmen. The claim could not be independently verified.
IS also said the bomber managed to get past Taliban security checkpoints to come within 5 metres of a gathering of US soldiers, translators and collaborators before detonating his explosives. It said Taliban were also among the casualties. The extremist IS group has battled the Taliban, which it views as traitorous for agreeing to a peace deal with the United States.
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The statement also said the bomber got around US security measures and that the camp that was targeted was where US forces were gathering paperwork for those who’ve worked with the military.
Meanwhile Joe Biden said that the US will not be deterred by the attack from its mission to carry out evacuation work.
To those who carried out this attack as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden threatened.
In a solemn address from the White House, Biden praised the slain US servicemen as ‘heroes’. He also asserted that the evacuation mission from Kabul will continue until the planned US withdrawal date of August 31. “We will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation,” Biden said.
