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28-08-2021
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
WASHINGTON/ KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: The United States forces helping to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule were on alert on Saturday for more attacks after an ISIL-affiliated suicide bombing killed at least 175 people. Thirteen US service members and 162 Afghans died in the attack outside Kabul airport.
“The unmanned air strike occurred in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target,” Captain Bill Urban of the US Central Command said in a statement. “We know of no civilian casualties.”
Thursday’s attack was claimed by an ISIL offshoot in Afghanistan – the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K).
The news comes as the US forces helping to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule issued an alert on Saturday of possible attacks at Kabul airport. The United States believes there are still “specific, credible” threats against the airport after the deadly bombings.
Alternatively, the United States forces helping to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule were on alert for more attacks after an ISIL-affiliated suicide bombing on Thursday that 
killed at least 175 people Taliban, sources told media. Thirteen US service members died in the attack outside Kabul airport.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that the US believed there are still “specific, credible” threats against the airport.
Pentagon officials also said they believe the attack outside Kabul airport was a result of one explosion, not two as previously reported.
“We do not believe that there was a second explosion at or near the Baron hotel, that it was one suicide bomber,” US Army Major General William Taylor told reporters at the Pentagon in Washington, DC.
Charles Stratford, reporting from Kabul, said evacuations have resumed.
“We have seen a number of planes take off. The number of people around the airport has grown dramatically since yesterday,” he said.
Thursday’s attack was claimed by ISIL (ISIS) offshoot in Afghanistan, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K).
US President Joe Biden pledged to retaliate against the attack in Kabul, confirming that the bombings were carried out by ISKP. “We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command,” he said.
4,200 more people evacuated in 12 hours
The US says it has evacuated approximately 4,200 people in 12 hours on Friday, following the deadly suicide attack near the airport in Kabul on Thursday.
“Since August 14, the US has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 109,200 people,” the White House said in a statement. “Since the end of July, we have re-located approximately 114,800 people.”
France ends its evacuation operation
France has ended its evacuation operation in Kabul, government ministers announced late on Friday, citing the “security conditions” and looming withdrawal of US troops by the end of the month.
“In exceptionally difficult circumstances, France evacuated nearly 3,000 people,” a joint statement by Defence Minister Florence Parly and Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
The ministers added that Paris will continue to help the people of Afghanistan “by all possible means”. They said they will work with Taliban officials to ensure that departures from the country are not impeded after August 31.
US Marine officer’s viral video
US Marine Lt Colonel Stuart Schaller, who called out senior Pentagon leaders following the fatal suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport, has been relieved of duty.
“To all my friends across the social networks, I have been relieved for cause based on a lack of trust and confidence,” Schaller, a 17-year veteran, wrote on his Facebook page on Friday.
A four-minute video posted to Facebook by Schaller on Thursday had called for “accountability” among senior Marine Corps officers for what he called a botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The video was shared more than 21,000 times by other users, according to the social media platform.
“People are upset because their senior leaders let them down. And none of them are raising their hands and accepting accountability or saying ‘we messed this up’,” Schaller said in the video.
Taliban say ready to take over Kabul airport, Pentagon claims still in control of military section
Taliban officials say forces inside Kabul airport are ready to take over, but Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said US forces still control the military section of the site.
One senior commander said Taliban forces had taken over most of the airport, “just not a small part where the Americans still are”, Reuters news agency said.
A second official said the forces were ready to take full control, adding: “It’s just a matter of some more time.”
Meanwhile, the 13 US military troops killed in the bombing attack on Kabul airport Thursday amounted to the worst single-day loss for the Pentagon in Afghanistan since 2011.
The US Defense Department said 13 were killed after two suicide bombers deployed by the Afghanistan branch of the Islamic State group detonated their bombs by a key gate into the airport and at a nearby hotel used for staging evacuees.
The initial toll was 12, which increased when an additional service member died from his wounds.
Ten of those killed and several wounded were US Marines, Marine Corps spokesman Major Jim Stinger said in a statement.
Helicopter missions
The two-decade war has cost 1,909 US military lives in combat. The heaviest losses came on August 6, 2011, when insurgents shot down a Chinook transport on a nighttime mission in Wardak province southwest of Kabul.
Thirty US American service members, including 22 Navy SEALs special operations troops, were killed in the crash, as well as eight Afghans and a US military dog.
Prior to that, the worst single-day toll also involved a helicopter. On June 28, 2005, three Navy SEALs were killed in a firefight after being flown into the mountains of the eastern Kunar province.
A helicopter loaded with reinforcements that was sent to help one SEAL still alive on the ground and recover the bodies of the three was shot down, killing 16 on board.
Firefights
Other major losses include a firefight between scores of Taliban fighters and US troops in 
Wanat in Nurestan province in July 2008, which saw nine US troops killed.
Fifteen months later, in October 2009, eight Americans died in a similar battle with hundreds of Taliban fighters in Kamdesh, also in Nurestan province.
Perceived allies
The war has also seen high tolls from attacks by perceived allies on the Americans.
On April 27, 2011 eight members of the US Air Force and one US civilian were shot dead in Kabul airport by an Afghan pilot.
And on December 30, 2009, a “triple-agent” whom US intelligence thought was on their side killed seven CIA officers and contractors, along with two others, at a CIA facility in eastern Afghanistan known as Camp Chapman.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Ankara held first official talks with the Taliban in Kabul, as the situation rapidly changes in Afghanistan after the group’s take over.
Turkey has not made a final decision on a Taliban request for support to run the Kabul airport 
after foreign forces withdraw over security concerns and uncertainty in Afghanistan, Erdogan said, adding talks were still underway.
Turkey, which is part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission, has been responsible for security at the airport for the last six years.
Erdogan, speaking to reporters, said discussions were held at a military facility at the Kabul airport where Turkey’s embassy is temporarily stationed, according to media.
“We have held our first talks with the Taliban, which lasted three and a half hours,” the Turkish leader said, adding: “If necessary, we will have the opportunity to hold such talks again.”
Meanwhile, two officials told media Turkey will not help run Kabul airport after NATO’s withdrawal unless the Taliban agree to a Turkish security presence after deadly attacks outside the airport highlighted the perils of any such mission.
The Taliban have asked Turkey for technical help to run the airport after next Tuesday’s deadline for all foreign military forces to pull out of Afghanistan, an ultimatum they say applies equally to Turkish troops.
Keeping the airport open after foreign forces hand over control is vital not just for Afghanistan to stay connected to the world but also to maintain aid supplies and operations.
On Thursday, just days before the military withdrawal deadline and as countries were still racing to evacuate civilians; at least one Daesh suicide bomber killed 85 people, including 13 US soldiers, outside the airport gates.
One senior Turkish official said the attack raised doubts about the Taliban’s ability to secure the airport or to keep any Turkish operational staff safe.
“The operation can be done by Turkey technically (…) but our demand is that security should be ensured by Turkey too, through an extensive security team made up of former soldiers, former police, or a fully private firm,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We have not been keen on Turkey operating the airport in an atmosphere where security is provided by the Taliban, and the attacks yesterday showed this was correct.”
High risks
President Erdogan told reporters that Turkey was “not in a rush to start (commercial) flights or any such things” and that Ankara would decide “when there is finally calm there (in Kabul)”.
The senior official said talks with the Taliban had been “negatively impacted” by the airport attacks and those future international flights from Kabul were at risk of being closed off. He did not say when the next contacts would take place.
Another Turkish official said security measures announced by the Taliban, including manning watchtowers around the airport, were not enough to ensure the safety of a potential Turkish mission.
“It’s a very serious job and we need to think of security and operation together,” the official said. “Our approach is that even if security is not provided by the Turkish Armed Forces, it should be done by Turkey.”
At least 350 Turkish soldiers and some 1,400 other people have been evacuated by Turkey from Afghanistan since the Taliban captured Kabul on August 15.
Turkey has praised what it described as moderate statements by the Taliban since their takeover but said their actions will determine Ankara’s position.
