{"id":60586,"date":"2021-08-27T08:27:55","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T13:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=60586"},"modified":"2021-08-27T08:35:42","modified_gmt":"2021-08-27T13:35:42","slug":"biden-vows-retaliation-for-bombings-that-killed-u-s-forces-afghans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=60586","title":{"rendered":"Biden vows retaliation for bombings that killed U.S. forces, Afghans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Nabih Bulos, Chris Megerian, Tracy Wilkinson, Eli Stokols and Marcus Yam<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tribune News Service<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KABUL, Afghanistan \u2014 President Joe Biden vowed to retaliate after 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghan civilians were killed Thursday in an attack by Islamic State terrorists \u2014 days before American forces were scheduled to finish their withdrawal from this city\u2019s airport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will not forgive. We will not forget,\u201d he said from the White House. \u201cWe will hunt you down and make you pay.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The episode appeared likely to become a bloody punctuation mark on two decades of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, and Biden said he remained committed to pulling out of the country despite his pledge of retribution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack, one of the deadliest on U.S. forces since the war began, involved two bombings, one at an airport gate where Afghan civilians had lined up in hopes of catching a flight out of the country, and another at a nearby hotel that has been a staging ground for evacuees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then gunmen opened fire, adding to the bloodshed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw a flash, and then everyone just started running into each other,\u201d said Mohibullah Atayi, 18, who had been trying to get in line at the airport and was about 300 yards from the first explosion. \u201cIt was chaos.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was unscathed, but his brother, 30-year-old Gulnur Atayi, who once worked as a security guard at a U.S. base in the western city of Herat, suffered wounds to his arms and legs and received a blood transfusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Islamic State in Khorasan, also known as ISIS-K, a local offshoot of the Iraq- and Syria-based terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the affiliated Amaq news agency. The organization is hostile to both the Taliban, the fundamentalist group that took control of Kabul this month, and U.S. troops, a reflection of the volatile environment in Afghanistan as Biden tries to finalize his administration\u2019s withdrawal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the evacuation began less than two weeks ago, thousands of Afghans have converged on the airport under the hot sun in an effort to flee the country. On Thursday, that scene of desperation was transformed into one of carnage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video from the attack\u2019s aftermath showed bloodied corpses strewn near a sewage canal that runs along the airport\u2019s outskirts. Some of the dead had to be fished out of the canal. The wounded were rushed to nearby hospitals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habib Jan, 35, lay amid an arsenal of beeping machines, his head and face covered with bandages, his body restless, his chest heaving. His brother-in-law explained that Jan had been carrying an invitation to the United States from a relative there, hoping it would help get him onto a flight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Jan needed to be moved to another medical facility for neurosurgery, but that couldn\u2019t happen immediately. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have any ambulances,\u201d a doctor explained. \u201cThey\u2019re all being used.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramin Sarwary, 30, kept vigil outside another medical center for word of his friend\u2019s brother, who had managed to get permission to travel to the United Kingdom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe wanted to leave this country,\u201d Sarwary said. \u201cNow we\u2019re waiting here for news if he\u2019s alive or dead.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack realized Biden\u2019s fears of a terrorist threat against the evacuation effort, something he had repeatedly warned about as he pushed to complete the operation as soon as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery day we\u2019re on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both U.S. and allied forces and innocent civilians,\u201d he said Tuesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now his promise of retribution will require a difficult balancing act. Biden said he would authorize additional military forces if necessary to retaliate against an elusive foe, but he appears reluctant to take any step that would prolong U.S. involvement in Afghanistan or risk American lives in a conflict that he already views as a lost cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will not be deterred by terrorists,\u201d Biden said. \u201cWe will continue our evacuation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An additional 7,000 people were flown out after the attack Thursday \u2014 a slower pace than previous days, but a sign of U.S. determination to continue the operation despite the danger. Roughly 100,000 people have been evacuated in less than two weeks as U.S. troops provide security at the airport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is close-up work,\u201d said Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie of U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in Afghanistan. \u201cThe breath of the person you are searching is upon you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The State Department on Thursday estimated that 1,000 American citizens were still in the country. Only a small number indicated that they planned to stay, with the rest taking steps to leave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, there are tens of thousands of Afghan allies who risk Taliban reprisals if they are not evacuated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden acknowledged that the U.S. would not be able to help everyone who wants to leave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGetting every single person out can\u2019t be guaranteed,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack plunged the White House into crisis mode. Biden spent much of Thursday being briefed by national security officials, including commanders on the ground in Afghanistan. An Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was delayed until Friday; a public health briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic was postponed; and a virtual conference with governors to talk about resettling Afghan refugees was canceled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vice President Kamala Harris canceled a political visit to San Francisco on Friday to help Gov. Gavin Newsom fight off a recall campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon warned there could be more attacks on the evacuation effort. ISIS-K has been eager to embarrass the Taliban by revealing its inability to govern and maintain security. It previously claimed responsibility for bombing a girls\u2019 school in Kabul, killing dozens of students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation has created an unusual, cooperative arrangement between U.S. forces and the Taliban. The fundamentalist group never completely severed ties with al-Qaida, the terrorist network responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks that originally sparked the war in Afghanistan, but now there\u2019s a shared interest in seeing Americans depart as soon as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKenzie, the Marine general, said the two sides were in frequent communication about security at the airport, and the Taliban has conducted preliminary screenings of evacuees before they\u2019re searched again by U.S. forces once they reach the gate. He even believed the Taliban had helped thwart potential terrorist strikes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden said there was no sign the Taliban had enabled Thursday\u2019s attack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one trusts them,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are just counting on their self-interest.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the bombings, saying the Islamic Emirate \u2014 the group\u2019s name for Afghanistan \u2014 was paying close attention to the security and protection of its people. But he also deflected blame onto the United States, tweeting that the bombings had taken place in an area \u201cwhere U.S. forces are responsible for security.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Capitol Hill, members of Congress acknowledged that a terrorist attack was among their biggest fears given the chaotic withdrawal. Republicans largely placed the blame on Biden\u2019s handling of the evacuations, with some members calling for resignations even before the details of the attack were known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats largely focused on the need to resume evacuations as quickly as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a full-fledged humanitarian crisis, and the U.S. government personnel, already working under extreme circumstances, must secure the airport and complete the massive evacuation of Americans citizens and vulnerable Afghans desperately trying to leave the country,\u201d Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said \u201cPresident Biden must take decisive action to protect our troops, our citizens, and our allies without regard for an arbitrary deadline.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called the bombings \u201chorrific\u201d and said, \u201cOur enemies have taken advantage of the chaotic nature of the withdrawal.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration sidelined the Afghan government last year and cut a deal with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops from the country by May 1. Biden shifted the deadline to Sept. 11 \u2014 revising the target to Aug. 31 over the summer \u2014 but has been adamant about ending the U.S. military presence there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden said this week he was asking the Pentagon and State Department for contingency plans if more time was needed to complete evacuations. But as he ended his remarks Thursday, he said there were no second thoughts about leaving Afghanistan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLadies and gentlemen, it was time to end a 20-year war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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