US President Joe Biden vowed Thursday to complete the evacuation of American citizens and others from Afghanistan despite the day's deadly suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport. He promised to avenge the deaths of 13 US service members killed in the attack, declaring to the extremists responsible: "We will hunt you down and make you pay."
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Speaking with emotion from the White House, Biden said the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate was to blame for the attacks that killed the Americans and many more Afghan civilians. He said there was no evidence they colluded with the Taliban, who now control the country.
He asked for a moment of silence to honor the service members, bowing his head, and ordered US flags to half-staff across the country.
As for the bombers and gunmen involved, he said, "We have some reason to believe we know who they are ... not certain." He said he had instructed military commanders to develop plans to strike Islamic State "assets, leadership and facilities."
Gen. Frank McKenzie, the US Central Command chief, said more attempted attacks were expected.
The ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan has carried out many attacks on civilian targets in the country in recent years. It is far more radical than the Taliban, who seized power less than two weeks ago. The most heralded American attack on the group came in April 2017 when the US dropped the largest conventional bomb in its arsenal on an IS cave and tunnel complex. The group more recently is believed to have concentrated in urban areas, which could complicate US efforts to target them without harming civilians.
"We will respond with force and precision at our time, at the place of our choosing," Biden said. "These ISIS terrorists will not win. We will rescue the Americans; we will get our Afghan allies out, and our mission will go on. America will not be intimidated."
Biden said US military commanders in Afghanistan had told him it is important to complete the evacuation mission. "And we will," he said. "We will not be deterred by terrorists."
Indeed, Gen. McKenzie, who is overseeing the evacuation operation from his Florida headquarters, told a Pentagon news conference shortly before Biden spoke, "Let me be clear, while we are saddened by the loss of life, both US and Afghan, we are continuing to execute the mission." He said there were about 5,000 evacuees on the airfield Thursday awaiting flights.
As many as 1,000 Americans and many more Afghans are still struggling to get out of Kabul.
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