Afghanistan: Every day about twenty thousand people leave Afghanistan from this airport, the death toll has risen to 160

Afghanistan: More attacks feared - US general, death toll rises to 160

   

Global New News Desk -

The New York Times reports that the death toll has risen to 160, excluding 13 U.S. troops. CNN reported on Friday (August 26th), citing Afghan health ministry officials, that 13 of the 160 people killed were US troops and three British nationals.

Thousands of Afghans have been flocking to the airport since the fall of Kabul on August 15. About twenty thousand people leave Afghanistan from this airport every day. Many people had gathered in front of the airport gate since this morning. The first blast in the crowd was caused by a suicide bomber. Shortly afterwards, another fidayeen attack took place in front of the Baron Hotel.

There could be more attacks at Kabul airport, the US general said

The security situation at Kabul airport is in crisis. General Frank McKenzie of the US Army has expressed fears that more attacks could take place during the repatriation of US citizens by August 31.

Standing in the White House, US President Joe Biden has given a strong message against the militant organization. "The United States must find the militants," McKenzie said, echoing the sentiments of the US president. The security situation at the airport is critical at the moment. We have information that there may be more attacks in the next few days. "However, he said there was no evidence yet that the Taliban had really helped the IS militant group in Thursday's attack.

"I'm very concerned about this situation," said Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace. It is IS's job to carry out such attacks. As long as we can't get out of there, we can't be safe. "Even if we get out of there, such attacks on Afghans will continue."

In fact, even before yesterday's attack, Washington had expressed similar concerns. But even after that, the question arises as to how such a big explosion took place.

Suicide bomber strikes at Kabul airport

The main sewer of the airport is close to the huge high wall. Men and women lined up in the dirty water of the drain. The only way to get out of the airport is through a high barbed wire fence. Many have babies on their laps, as little as possible in their backpacks. The people of Afghanistan are not trying to leave the country. This is the picture of the magnetic Kabul airport. Who is to say that the area was shaken by a terrible explosion just a few hours ago! Aquatic humans have instantly been transformed into lumps of flesh. Fearing an explosion again, crowds of people returned to the vicinity of Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport. The goal is the same, to step on the floor of the plane anyway. There is no more time in hand!

Rescue work has started in different parts of the world from Kakvor on Friday. The activity has increased manifold. From America to England, from France to India, all countries want to finish the rescue work on time. The blast on Thursday night hastened that initiative. But the question is, what will happen to those who want to leave the Taliban regime and become emigrants? Indiscriminate firing from suicide bombers, nothing is going to stop them. Everyone is desperate to leave Afghanistan. Tolo TV in Afghanistan claims that the crowd at the airport was the same before and after the blast. But the biggest question is, how many people will be able to leave the country in the end? And those who can't, what is their future? The Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul was rocked by a suicide bombing on Thursday night. Many locals and foreigners are killed and many more are injured. The IS Khorasan group has claimed responsibility for the blast. After that night passed, rescue work started again in daylight. Fearing an explosion, he stood in the dirty water of the sewer and tried desperately to leave the country.

Afghanistan: 'Bodies dumped in drains'

"Body, flesh and people have been dumped in a nearby ditch," Milad, who was present at the scene of the first blast, told AFP news agency.

"After hearing the sound of the explosion, there was panic and chaos. The Taliban fired blank shots into the sky to disperse the crowd, "said a second eyewitness.

"I saw a man running with an injured child in his arms."

The eyewitness (whose name was not released) said he was scheduled to board the plane with his wife and three children. But in the chaos and confusion he threw away all the papers.

'' I'm not going to the airport anymore. "Let America die, emigrate and destroy visas," he told AFP.

Corpses upon corpses

The BBC's Sekandar Kirmani in Kabul reports that videos and photos released after the blast showed bodies lying on top of each other. He thinks the death toll will rise as a result.

Many injured people were seen being evacuated from the scene. Afghan TV Tolo News has published pictures of the injured being taken to the hospital.

'Very powerful bomb'

A copyYakshadarshi told a reporter that the bomb that exploded was "very powerful".

Reuters news agency released a video footage of the man saying there were at least 400 to 500 people present at the time of the blast.

He said the dead included "foreign troops".

"We didn't remove the injured on stretchers ... my clothes were soaked in blood."

The BBC's Jonathan Beale reports that another explosion and gunfire were heard after the first attack.

U.S. President Joe Biden has been notified of the blast.

Reuters reports that the US president was briefed on the attack at Kabul airport when he was meeting with his security officials about the situation in Afghanistan.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is holding an emergency meeting with his security officials following the incident.

Fear of more attacks.

Mike Jackson, a former U.S. Army commander who has served in Afghanistan, says observers are "fearing that this will happen."

Analysts believe that ISIS-Khorasan, a branch of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, may be behind this.

Colonel Jackson said he thought ISIS-Khorasan would "definitely" launch another attack on the exiled people.

“They have weapons and equipment in their hands and they have the ability to carry out attacks in that area,” he said. "Their target is unarmed people who are desperate to leave the country."

Afghanistan: Who is the IS attacker at Kabul airport?

The United States and several allies have been warning of a possible terrorist attack on Kabul airport for days.

Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said the threat of an attack had been growing in Kabul since the evacuation process began.

"The threat of a terrorist attack could come from anyone - the Taliban, Islamic State or Al Qaeda. The attack could come from either of them," he said.

Who is this IS?

The name used by the Islamic State group in Afghanistan is the Islamic State of Khorasan Province.

The word Khorasan comes from the ancient name of the region of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The ISK group was born in January 2015.

Its main base is in the eastern province of Nangarhar in Afghanistan.

This area bordering Pakistan is notorious for drug and human trafficking.

Its members are mainly Afghan and Pakistani jihadists. Many defectors from the Afghan Taliban have joined IS-K.

Harder than the Taliban

IS is many times more radical than the Taliban in Afghanistan.

They see the Afghan Taliban as an enemy. According to their interpretation of Islamic law, it is considered 'permissible' to target the Taliban as 'apostates'.

He condemned the peace deal reached between the United States and the Taliban in Afghanistan on February 29 last year and said that they would continue their fight in Afghanistan.

The group also rejected the Taliban's occupation of Afghanistan, claiming that the Americans had handed over Afghanistan to the Taliban as part of a secret deal.

The BBC's security analyst, Frank Gardner, says there is still some kind of IS-K link with the Taliban, especially through third parties.

Citing researchers, he said there was a link between IS and the Haqqani network.

The Taliban, on the other hand, has ties to the Haqqani network.

IS suffered a major military defeat in 1919, and several of its leaders were captured in April 2020.

However, IS has regained its strength and has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in Afghanistan during peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar.

According to Frank Gardner, IS has carried out 24 attacks in Afghanistan in the past year alone.

IS has attacked girls' schools, hospitals, and even hospital maternity wards where they have reportedly shot pregnant women.

They also carried out an attack inside Iran in 2016.

Organizationally, IS initially consisted of Afghanistan and Pakistan, but in May 2019, the Islamic State announced the name of a separate group called the "Province of Pakistan."

The IS has been targeted by the Afghan military, Afghan politicians, the Taliban, Shia Muslims and Sikhs, as well as various religious minorities, the US and NATO forces, and various international organizations, NGOs and relief agencies operating in the country.