The United States has killed two “high” Islamic State enemies in a drone strike in Afghanistan on Saturday, as the evacuation of those in need of flight entered a final stage full of terrorist attacks and Taliban forces began taking over Kabul airport.
U.S. troops in charge of evacuation have been forced to work closely with security forces and the Taliban to prevent any recurrence of suicide bombings that killed scores of civilians packed one of the main airport gates with 13 American troops.
The attack was sparked by an Islamic State chapter (ISIS-K), with the Pentagon claiming to have killed two people who had been threatened and wounded by a jihadist group during a drone strike in eastern Afghanistan.
No ordinary people were injured in the attack, Major General Hank Taylor told a news conference in Washington.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby “were the organizers and promoters of ISIS-K”, adding: “The fact that two of these people are no longer on the face of the earth, is a good thing.”
As the airport window narrows sharply before the August 31 deadline, more than 5,000 people remain inside Kabul airport awaiting evacuation on Saturday.
There are no longer a crowd of thousands around the airport, in the hope that we will pass and be allowed to board the plane.
Now, the Taliban have closed roads leading to the airport and allowed buses to pass.
“We have a list from Americans … if your name is on the list, you can pass it,” one Taliban official told AFP near the passenger compound.
Thursday’s massacre of suicide has intensified the tension and tension of a situation that is already full of panic and despair for those who want to leave and the great danger to American troops facing the task of securing operations.
On Saturday, two health officials from Afghanistan officials told AFP that the death toll had risen to 100, including 13 Americans.
Some media outlets have set a target of up to 170 cents.
The bombing followed a warning of imminent danger and, as people gathered outside the airport on Saturday, the United States issued a new warning for its citizens to leave areas near major gates “immediately”.
In recent years, the Islamic State chapter in Afghanistan and Pakistan has contributed to the deadliest attacks in those countries – killing civilians in mosques, shrines, public squares and even hospitals.
‘Future efforts’:
At the White House, President Joe Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, said US national security experts were considering another “possible” attack and that in the next few days it would be “the most dangerous time to date”.
Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi wrote on Twitter that the group’s troops had already entered the military component of Kabul airport, but the Pentagon insisted that American troops continue to control the gates and aviation operations.
Armed Taliban militants were spotted on the runways and in the airstrip of the airport building on Saturday, while U.S. navigators watched them from the roof of a passenger train.
After a 20-year war, the enemy saw each other openly, separated by only about 100 feet [30 m], and caught fire.
The rush to meet the withdrawal deadline on Tuesday required close cooperation with the Taliban in security agencies and the IS threat.
Hamid Karzai International’s military chief of staff, Admiral Defender Peter Vasely, has been in constant contact with the Taliban’s security chief around the airport.
And with the Taliban ready to take over when the last American plane takes off, negotiations have begun with the resumption of normal flight operations.
Turkish officials have held initial talks with the Taliban in Kabul about helping to restore the airport and operations.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Taliban’s proposal was for security at the airport, while Ankara was carrying out planning activities.
Refugee exit:
Under intense criticism at home and abroad for his handling of the Afghan crisis and the withdrawal of American troops, Biden has vowed to adhere to the deadline and punish those responsible for the suicide bombing.
An estimated 112,000 people have been flown in from the country since August 14, the day before the Taliban came to power, according to the US government.
On Saturday, Taliban militants escorted Afghans from buses to the main airport and handed them over to American troops.
Many Western partners have announced the end of their flights, with some agreeing that vulnerable Afghan people who should be transported are left behind.
The United Nations says it was preparing for the “worst situation” of the nearly half a million refugees from Afghanistan by the end of 2021.
The Taliban have promised a softer form of governance compared to their first rule from 1996 to 2001, which ended when the United States invaded Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
But many Afghan people are afraid to repeat their brutal interpretation of Islamic law, as well as to punish those who work with foreign troops, on a trip to the West or the former US-backed government.
The role of women in society has been one of the biggest grievances, after being banned from work and education and locked up in their homes during the party’s previous rule.
Taliban official Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, a former deputy negotiator for peace talks in Doha, said on Friday that women had the “birthright” to work.
“They can work, study, participate in politics and do business,” he told a news conference.
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