Home ›› 28 Aug 2021 ›› World Biz
The death toll of a deadly suicide bombing in Kabul's airport, rose to 169 Afghans, a number that could increase as authorities examine fragmented remains, and 13 US service members.
The White House and the Pentagon warned there could be more bloodshed ahead of President Joe Biden's fast-approaching deadline Tuesday to end the airlift and withdraw American forces, reports ABC7 Chicago.
The next few days "will be our most dangerous period to date" in the evacuation, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, hours before the US issued a security alert for four of the airport gates.
Thursday's bombing - blamed on Afghanistan's offshoot of the Islamic State group, an enemy of both the Taliban and the West - marked one of the most lethal attacks the country has seen. The US said it was the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011.
As the call to prayer echoed Friday through Kabul along with the roar of departing planes, the anxious crowds thronging the airport in hope of escaping Taliban rule appeared as large as ever, despite the scenes of victims lying closely packed together in the aftermath of the bombing.
Around the world, newly arriving Afghan evacuees, many clutching babies and bare handfuls of belongings in plastic bags, stepped off evacuation flights in the United States, in Albania, in Belgium and beyond.
In Kabul on Friday, Afghan families looked for loved ones among bodies, placed along a hospital sidewalk for identification, of bombing victims who died pleading for a seat on the US-run airlifts.
Afghans, American citizens and other foreigners were all acutely aware the window was closing to get out via the airlift.
The Pentagon said Friday that there was just one suicide bomber - at the airport gate - not two, as US officials initially said. A US official said that the suicide bomber carried a heavier-than-usual load of about 25 pounds of explosives, loaded with shrapnel.
The US official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preliminary assessments of the attack. The officials who gave the Afghan death toll also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The Afghan victims ranged from a hard-working young journalist to an impoverished father, driven to to the airport by hopes of a better life.
The American dead were 11 Marines, a Navy sailor and an Army soldier. Many had been tiny children when US forces first entered Afghanistan in 2001.
The Pentagon said the US would keep up manned and unmanned flights over the airport for surveillance and protection, including the use of AC-130 gunships.
US officials said evacuees with proper credentials still were being allowed through the gates. Inside, about 5,400 evacuees awaited flights.
