News about Afghanistan
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The rockets were fired at Kabul International Airport on Monday as U.S. troops rushed to complete the evacuation the day before the deadline to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan.
Jen Psaki, a White House spokeswoman, confirmed that the airport was attacked by a rocket, but said that “operations continue without interruption”. There were no reports of injuries and no one claimed responsibility for the barrage.
President Joe Biden was aware of the attack and “reaffirmed his order for commanders to redouble their efforts to give priority to doing whatever is necessary to protect our forces on the ground.”
The rocket attack was carried out after there were more than 100 people, including 13 US Marines killed Thursday a suicide bomber targeting a crowd of Afghans struggling to get into an airport to board flights outside the country.
From the attack, blamed on Washington and Taliban officials Isis-K, the U.S. military carried out two drone strikes after Biden vowed to “hunt” those responsible for the bloodshed.
The first strike was carried out in the remote eastern province of Nangarhar, where Washington claimed that Isis-K “planner” was killed.
But another drone strike, which hit the crowded Kabul neighborhood on Sunday, has sparked controversy. The United States said the attack “successfully hit the target” and destroyed a vehicle loaded with explosives that was to be used in other planned attack at the airport. But in Kabul, news reported that a former U.S. military interpreter and several of his young children had been killed in the attack.
As the evacuation attempt stopped, anger grew among Afghans selected for evacuation, but who were inability to enter the airport to board their flights.
Among them were hundreds of students and former students of the American University in Afghanistan, which was the case before the target of terrorist attacks.
Some of those invited by foreign embassies for evacuation flights have been blocked by large crowds of Afghans seeking to enter the airport, and many are missing paperwork and calls.
“This is the fault of the United States for lack of a good plan and lack of good governance,” said one young woman who spent three nights stuck with her young child outside the airport after being informed she would be evacuated to Australia.
She finally gave up and returned home on Thursday morning, hours before a suicide bomber attacked the Opatija airport gate.
Taliban leaders insisted since last week that all Afghans with valid documentation will be allowed to leave the country even after the U.S. completed the withdrawal of its troops on Tuesday and after normal commercial flights resumed at Kabul airport.
But few were convinced the Islamist militia would keep its word as fears of retaliation against Taliban opponents increased.
On Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, that the two countries must “positively lead” the new Taliban government in Afghanistan and help it stabilize the country. Wang also called on the United States to “mitigate rather than intensify conflicts” in the war-torn country, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Blinken has pressured Beijing to help “hold the Taliban accountable” for its obligations to facilitate free passage for those wishing to leave Afghanistan, a U.S. State Department spokesman said.
The Taliban held a major meeting this weekend to discuss Afghanistan’s education policy and reaffirm that women could attend schools and universities, according to lecturers at Kabul University.
However, Samiullah Mahdi, a lecturer, wrote on Twitter that students would be separated by gender and female students would only be taught by women or the elderly, which could prove challenging because historical gender constraints have created a shortage of teachers.
Additional report by Fazelminallah Qazizai in Kabul
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