Kabul airport blasts kill 60 Afghans, 4 U.S. Marines
Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal
KABUL, August 26 2021: At least 60 Afghans and four U.S. Marines were killed in explosions at the Kabul airport, as two blasts ripped through crowds trying to enter the American-controlled facility on Thursday, disrupting the final push of the U.S.-led evacuation effort.
The U.S. envoy in Kabul told embassy staff there that four U.S. Marines were killed in the attack at the city’s airport and three wounded, a U.S. official with knowledge of the briefing said. A senior Afghan health official put the death toll among local civilians at 60, with many more fighting for their lives.
Those were the first U.S. military combat fatalities in Afghanistan since February 2020, when the Trump administration and the Taliban signed in Doha, Qatar, an agreement on withdrawing American troops.
The number of U.S. casualties is expected to rise. President Biden made no public appearances as of midday Thursday, postponing a scheduled meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and canceling a virtual event with U.S. governors. Mr. Biden was briefed by his national security team about the incidents on Thursday morning in the White House’s Situation Room and continued to receive updates, officials said. He spent much of the day in the Oval Office, one of the officials said.
Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghanistan-kabul-airport-explosion-11629976397