The C-RAM defense system installed at the airport was committed to the rockets, the official said. There are currently no reports of any casualties.
C-RAM is an automated system that detects incoming attacks and uses a machine gun to destroy incoming fire before it can reach its target. The system has been used in Iraq and Afghanistan to intercept and destroy incoming projectiles aimed at U.S. forces.
The U.S. official said ISIS-K probably launched rockets aimed at the airport, but warned it was too early to know for sure.
Apparently, a civilian vehicle was used as an improvised platform in the rocket attack. CNN video showed the vehicle on fire on a street in Kabul’s Khair Khana neighborhood after firing rockets.
The cremated remains of the car are covered with debris, the glass missing from all the windows and the molten rubber from the tires. It looks like the car has been modified, with six large tubes visible inside the charred skeleton.
Zia ud Din, a French fries seller who had the house next to where the car was, heard the rockets launch.
“There were a few big bumps, we were all inside the house, the whole family, when we heard the bangs, we ran into the garden, everything caught fire,” he said. “Fortunately, no one is killed or injured.”
Taliban fighters had initially cordoned off the street, telling viewers that the situation remained dangerous, although they later allowed reporters on the street.
Eyewitnesses said one of the rockets hit a nearby building. A rocket impact was seen on a nearby high-rise tower, although Taliban fighters and witnesses said there were no casualties in the building.
ISIS in Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, has claimed that an ISIS militant carried out the suicide attack, but did not provide any evidence to support the claim.
On Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden warned that another terrorist attack at the airport was “very likely in the next 24-36 hours,” citing U.S. military commanders.
On Sunday, US forces launched a drone strike targeting suspected ISIS-K militants, the second such strike in three days. Although the U.S. initially said there were no signs of civilian casualties, the military acknowledged reports of casualties later Sunday.
Nine members of a family, including six children, the youngest just 2 years old, were killed in a drone strike aimed at a vehicle in Kabul, a family relative told CNN.
U.S. forces have been competing to complete their evacuation operation from Afghanistan before Tuesday’s deadline to withdraw all U.S. troops and under threat of a new terrorist attack at the airport .
Although the government has faced calls both internationally and domestically to extend the deadline, Biden has insisted that operations will end by the end of the month.
Since Aug. 13, the U.S. has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of about 114,400 people from Afghanistan, a White House official said Sunday.
Earlier Monday, Kabul residents said they had heard an explosion early in the morning, although there were no clear indications of the type of blast or any official confirmation of the source of the blast.
U.S. President Joe Biden has been briefed on the rocket attack, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
Psaki added that Biden was informed that “operations continue uninterrupted” at the airport, as Tuesday’s deadline approaches.