Suicide Bombers Kill 13 American Service Members, Dozens of Afghanis, and Terrorist Threats are Still Active in Afghanistan

By Yehudit Garmaise

     Two suicide bombers, from the terrorist group ISIS-K, a sworn enemy of the Taliban, killed at least 13 American service members and dozens of Afghan civilians, by detonating bombs among the thousands who were desperate to fly out of the Hamid Karzai International Airport this morning to escape the Taliban regime, who on May 1, started to take over the Afghani government, which was Democratic, until the Islamic extremists succeeded on Aug. 15.

    In the past days, ISIS-K had warned Biden administration officials that terrorist attacks were imminent.

     "We have been made aware by our intelligence communication that ISIS-K, the arch-enemy of the Taliban, were freed when the Taliban took over the country," President Biden said today from the White House.

    "Those prisons are open, and ISIS-K is out.

    "This is why I have said from the outset: This mission is extremely dangerous, and it needs to be [time-]limited."

     Today’s bombing, whose perpetrators the US military is investigating, sadly caused one of the highest single American death tolls of a 20-year military engagement that started days after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

     As a father, who has lost a son, and who sent another son to Afghanistan to serve for one year, President Biden today deeply emphathized with the parents of the American service members who died today.

     President Biden described grief as "this feeling of being sucked into a black hole in the middle of your chest, there is no way out.

    "American troops are the backbone, the spine, and the best America has to offer.

    "We have a scared obligation to all of those families of those heroes."

     That obligation, as Biden told it: is revenge.

     "Know this: we will not forgive, and we will not forget," President Biden said. "We will hunt you down, and make you pay.

     "I will defend our interests and our people, and I will use every measure at our command."

      More threats, such as rocket attacks, vehicle attacks, and vest-wearing suicide attackers, could be imminent, Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, head of the US Central Command told CNN. 

      While investigating the attacks of this morning, the US military also is focused on "extremely active threat streams" to the airfield, which reports say the Taliban, along with the US, and the rest of the world, wants to be cleared as soon as possible, Gen. McKenzie said.

      "But right now, our focus really is on the extremely active threat streams against the airfield, and we want to make sure we are taking the steps to protect ourselves there,” Gen. McKenzie said.

      "Right now," he continued, "Our focus is going forward and ensuring that another attack of this nature does not occur, because as you know, typically the pattern is multiple attacks, and we want to be prepared and be ready to defend against that."

      After starting to draw down US troops earlier this month, and deploying 5,800 troops to assist with the difficult evacuation, in the past days, President Joe Biden has wavered on whether he will stick to his self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline as the date by which he promises to evacuate all US troops, and as many American citizens and Afghani allies as possible.

      This morning at his morning press briefing, when a reporter asked Mayor Bill de Blasio, in light of the terrorist attacks in Kabul, whether New Yorkers should fear an elevated terror threat in the city.

     “We are watching that very closely,” Mayor de Blasio said. “We do not have a specific and credible threat directed at New York City right now.

     “But we are watching closely and obviously our counter-terrorism apparatus can move very quickly if we see anything of direct concern to us.”

(Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz