Washington: The US carried out an air strike to protect the Kabul evacuation effort on Sunday, as the Biden administration and its European allies promised to help people leave Afghanistan after Tuesday’s deadline for withdrawal.
US military forces conducted a self-defence unmanned over-the-horizon air strike on a vehicle in Kabul, eliminating an imminent Isis-K threat to Hamad Karzai International Airport, Captain Bill Urban, a US Central Command spokesman said, referring to the local branch of the Islamist terror group.
US military forces conducted a self-defense unmanned over-the-horizon airstrike today on a vehicle in Kabul, eliminating an imminent ISIS-K threat to Hamad Karzai International airport, Bill Urban, US Central Command spokesman said in a statement.
He added, “We are confident we successfully hit the target. Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material.”
Bill Urban said that they are assessing the possibilities of civilian casualties, though they have ‘no indications’ at this time. “We remain vigilant for potential future threats,” he stated.
The airstrike was launched from beyond Afghanistan less than 48 hours after the devastating Kabul attack that killed 13 Americans and scores of Afghans with just days left in a final U.S. withdrawal after 20 years of war. U.S. Central Command said it believed its strike killed no civilians.
The Pentagon said Saturday morning that about 6,800 people were airlifted from Kabul on U.S. and coalition aircraft in the past 24 hours, and about 117,000 people have been airlifted over the last two weeks.
Earlier in the day, US President Joe Biden had said that the situation on the ground remained extremely dangerous and that his military chiefs had told him another militant attack was ‘highly likely’ within the next 24-36 hours.