A U.S. airstrike Sunday targeted a vehicle carrying “multiple suicide bombers” from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate before they could target the ongoing American military evacuation at Kabul’s international airport, officials said.
President Joe Biden warned on Saturday that a further terrorist attack in Kabul was highly likely in the next 24 to 36 hours, and said the U.S. drone attack that killed two ISIS militants in retaliation for the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and over `70 Afghans would not be the last.
There is some confusion over whether one or two rocket attacks took place and very few details. Apparently, a rocket struck a neighborhood just northwest of the airport, killing a child.
The two strikes initially reported appeared to be separate incidents, though information on both remained scarce.
The Associated Press is reporting that Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid earlier said in a message to journalists that the U.S. strike targeted a suicide bomber as he drove a vehicle loaded with explosives. Mujahid offered few other details.
Two American military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, called the airstrike successful, according to Reuters. They said the strike caused “significant secondary explosions” indicating the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material in the vehicle.
The rocket struck in Kabul’s Khuwja Bughra neighborhood, said Rashid, the Kabul police chief who goes by one name. Video obtained by The Associated Press in the aftermath of the attack showed smoke rising from building at the site around a kilometer (half a mile) from the airport.
