The rockets were launched at Kabul International Airport on Monday morning as the US withdrew. Afghanistan he got into what President Biden has said will be his second on the last day. It was not immediately known who fired the projectiles, none of which hit the capital’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a statement informing Mr. Biden “of the rocket attack” and “being informed that operations continue uninterruptedly at HKIA and has confirmed his order that the commanders redouble their efforts to prioritize all that is necessary to protect our forces on the ground. “
Witnesses told The Associated Press that some rockets had crashed in Kabul’s Salim Karwan district, less than two miles from the airport. Shots then exploded, but it was unclear who fired, the AP said.
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At least five rockets were fired during the attack, U.S. officials told CBS News, and some may have been intercepted by a close-range missile defense system, but it was unclear whether they were intercepted or simply failed. achieve the intended goal. There were no initial reports of casualties.
The attempted rocket attack occurred a day later the US carried out an air strike on an ISIS-K vehicle loaded with explosives near the airport. It was the second such strike against the militant group since deadly attack on American forces last week.
U.S. Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for Central Command, said in a statement that the strike was carried out by a drone and removed “an imminent ISIS-K threat” at Hamid Karzai International Airport. .
Urban initially said there were no alleged civilian casualties, but CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata said Taliban and Afghan media reported that the blast had killed nine civilians, including several young children.
The Pentagon later acknowledged that there may have been civilian casualties. Urban said Central Command was aware of the reports and that the U.S. military “was still evaluating the results of this strike.”
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“We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, which indicated a large amount of explosive material inside that could have caused additional casualties,” Urban said. “It’s not clear what may have happened and we’re investigating later.”
“We would be deeply saddened by any possible loss of innocent lives,” he said in a statement.
A defense official told CBS News that there was uncertainty about whether the strike destroyed a car bomb or killed a suicide bomber driving in the car. Early reports indicated the car was carrying a suicide bomber, but the size of the secondary explosion has convinced some analysts that it was a fully loaded car bomb.
A defense official said the strike was ordered after two men were seen carrying explosives in the trunk of a car. The car was hit by a Hellfire missile, which produced a small explosion followed by a much larger secondary explosion.
Bilal Karimi, a senior aide to the Taliban spokesman, said the airstrike affected the vehicle near the airport. He said three suspects were in the vehicle at the time of the strike. Karimi said the U.S. military had told the Taliban that a vehicle full of explosives would arrive in Kabul and that the U.S. would destroy it.
Last week’s attack on the abbey gate at Kabul airport left at least 170 people dead, including 13 members of the American service. U.S. officials have said an ISIS-K member carried out the bombing and vowed to retaliate against those responsible.
The door affected by last week’s massive and deadly blast was due to close, officials told CBS News, but it remained open when British troops at a hotel several hundred meters away decided they would return. at the airport as part of withdrawal. But the suicide hit first.
A U.S. airstrike on Friday, the first since the attack, dead two “high-profile” ISIS-K planners and facilitators and another wounded, according to Pentagon officials.
The Sunday morning strike came after the State Department issued an alert warning people not to go to the airport due to a “specific and credible threat,” a warning similar to that it aired just hours before the devastating blast at Abbey Gate last week.
Operations against ISIS-K militants occur as the U.S. rushes to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies from the city before President Biden’s August 31 withdrawal deadline. in its final hours, U.S. forces focused on leaving Afghanistan safely after helping more than 120,000 civilians escape.
Those who did not arrive at the airport have been making a getaway by the hundreds of thousands to the border of neighboring countries, including Pakistan and Iran.
The State Department said there may be some U.S. citizens who do not complete the deadline to flee the airport, along with thousands of Afghans who have been granted U.S. visas who will also be left behind. .
But National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told Ed O’Keefe on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the Taliban will not stop these people from leaving after Tuesday’s deadline.
“The Taliban have communicated both privately and publicly that they will allow a safe passage,” Sullivan said. “We will not only trust his word.”
He said there would be “significant consequences” if Afghanistan’s new rulers do not follow through on their commitment, and not just the economic and diplomatic consequences, but other capabilities he said could be “carried out.”
Biden vowed to retaliate against those who facilitated Thursday’s deadly attack.
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will persecute you and make you pay,” he said in statements to the White House shortly after the blast.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Saturday that there were active threats against the airport, which were “still very real” and “dynamic.”
At a news conference last week, General Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, said the U.S. was closely monitoring the threat of a suicide bombing in a small car or large truck.