Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

Suicide attack at Kabul airport kills over 80 civilians, 13 US troops

August 27, 2021

Over 90 civilians and 13 US troops were killed and hundreds other injured as two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowd at and outside Kabul airport in Afghanistan Thursday. The civilian toll is likely to rise, say reports. The crowd was flocking airport to be evacuated, fleeing Afghanistan after Taliban’s takeover. According to reports, the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K)claimed responsibility for the killings on its Amaq news channel.

Warning the Kabul airport attackers that killed US soldiers, US President while addressing reporters at the White House said, “To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm notice, we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command. Apart from killing 13 US service members, the deadly attack has left 18 others wounded.

Meanwhile, there are still at least 20 Indian nationals stranded in the country now under Taliban control, sources said yesterday. Around 140 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are also believed to be trapped, awaiting evacuation.

As the situation in Afghanistan worsens, former Afghan Vice-President Amrullah Saleh ‘claimed that “IS-K cells have their roots in Talibs and Haqqani network particularly the ones operating in Kabul”. He said the Taliban denying link with the Islamic State (IS) is similar to Pakistan’s denial on Quetta Shura, thus hinting at Pakistan’s connection with the deadly serial blasts outside Kabul airport. Quetta Shura is a terrorist outfit that evolved in Balochistan soon after the previous Taliban regime in Afghanistan fell. Though Saleh did not directly pin blame on Pakistan, he said in his tweet that the Taliban seem to be ‘learning from their master’.

(With puts from Agencies)