Biden warns attackers at Kabul airport: “We will chase you”

WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden, his voice broken by emotion, vowed on Thursday that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the twin explosions at Kabul airport in Afghanistan. and said he had asked the Pentagon to develop plans to strike back at them.

Biden spoke hours after the blasts killed at least 13 U.S. troops and dozens of civilians, the worst day of casualties for U.S. forces there in a decade.

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The Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), affiliated with militants that previously fought U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will persecute you and make you pay,” Biden said in statements to the White House.

He promised that American evacuations would continue.

“The terrorists will not deter us, we will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuations,” he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris canceled her campaign plan for California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsroom, who faces a Sept. 14 withdrawal election, returning home from a trip to Asia, and who instead he will return to Washington, his workers said.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden was pursuing his target of Tuesday’s withdrawal to withdraw U.S. forces, saying he was doing so on the advice of military advisers worried about further attacks.

He said Biden was working to get all the Americans who wanted to leave ahead of schedule. “Our commitment to them never ends,” he said.

Biden said he had ordered U.S. military commanders to develop operational plans to attack ISIS-K’s assets, leadership and facilities. “We will find ways we choose, without major military operations, to achieve them,” he said.

He seemed to be fighting tears and his voice broke with emotion as he spoke of the American “heroes” who died. He ordered the flags to be lowered in the White House and public buildings across the country to half the staff.

“It’s been a tough day,” he said.

The president said he had told the U.S. military, “Anything they need, if they need extra strength, I’ll grant it.”

Biden defended his handling of his worst foreign policy crisis, saying it is ultimately his responsibility, while blaming his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, for the 2020 deal that Trump negotiated with the Taliban.

He said he did not trust the Taliban, but believed it was in the group’s interest for the evacuations to continue.

Psaki said the United States also had “an enormous amount of leverage,” including economic leverage, over the Taliban, who are subject to U.S. and UN sanctions.

The Afghan government has also long relied on dollar transfers of its central bank assets, many of which remain in the United States. An administration official said these assets would not be made available to the Taliban.

Reports by Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland and Andrea Shalal; Edited by Peter Cooney and Rosalba O’Brien

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