Despite a fatal suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport on Thursday, President Joe Biden promised to finish the withdrawal of American citizens and others from Afghanistan. He also vowed to avenge the deaths, telling the perpetrators, "We will hunt you down and make you pay."
Biden stated the Islamic State's Afghanistan offshoot was to blame for the assaults, which killed 12 American military personnel and many more Afghan civilians while speaking from the White House. He said there was no proof they worked with the Taliban, who currently rule the nation.
The administration has been widely criticized for a disorganized and disastrous evacuation that began only after the US-backed Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban took control of the nation.
Biden is under increased pressure following the suicide bomb attack
The assaults on Thursday were expected to increase political pressure on Biden, who was already under fire for not starting the withdrawal sooner. He had stated in April that the US war would be ended and that all soldiers would be gone by September, Beaumont Enterprise reported.
Per Daily Mail, an ISIS suicide bomber in a vest detonated outside The Baron Hotel, where Westerners were staying before their evacuation planes, causing the first blast in Kabul. A second explosion occurred a short time later at the airport's Abbey Gate, where thousands of Afghans had gathered for more than a week in the hopes of being placed on one of the evacuation planes. According to unconfirmed reports, the explosion was triggered by a vehicle bomb.
Hundreds of Afghan allies and up to 1,500 Americans are still stuck in Afghanistan. The administration has received a barrage of criticism for its handling of the evacuation from Democrats, Republicans, and international allies.
In a letter to Biden, a group representing dozens of House Republicans and Democrats pleaded with him to extend the deadline. The House Problem Solvers Caucus, which has 58 members, claims that three-quarters of its members support the letter.
Even as the Pentagon acknowledges it is prepared for further strikes, the US president has been summoned to the White House situation room to try to get control of the turmoil. And Joe Biden, who has said that no more American lives will be lost in Afghanistan under his presidency, must be watching in horror as new American blood is shed.
End of America's longest war becomes chaos
In the military, there is an ancient proverb that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, which means that no amount of planning and preparation can predict the impact of real-time events. Joe Biden ran for president of the United States on a platform of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and ending America's longest war.
In recent years, the IS affiliate in Afghanistan has carried out several assaults on civilian targets in Afghanistan. It's considerably more extreme than the Taliban, who only took control a few weeks ago.
According to Biden, US military leaders in Afghanistan have warned him that completing the evacuation mission is crucial. General Frank McKenzie, the Central Command officer in charge of the evacuation operation from his Florida headquarters, confirmed this during a Pentagon press briefing just before Biden's speech. He estimated that approximately 5,000 refugees were waiting for planes on the airfield on Thursday.
Approximately 1,000 Americans and a large number of Afghans are still attempting to flee Kabul. Biden was informed of the assaults, which occurred 12 days after the frantic evacuation began and five days before it was supposed to end. Some Republicans and others have urged that the evacuation should be extended beyond the deadline next Tuesday.
The administration has been widely criticized for a chaotic and catastrophic evacuation that began only after the US-backed Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban took control of the nation. So far, more than 100,000 individuals, including Afghans, Americans, and others, have been evacuated, as per the AP News.
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