Drone strike by US forces kills suicide bomber in Kabul
Bomber planned to hit airport; secondary blasts show target had 'substantial amount of explosive material'
WASHINGTON: American forces launched a drone strike in Kabul yesterday targeting a suicide bomber in a vehicle who was aiming to attack the airport, officials said, as the United States nears the end of its military presence in the city.
One US official said yesterday's strike was carried out by an unmanned aircraft piloted from outside Afghanistan and that secondary explosions after the strike showed the target had been carrying a "substantial amount of explosive material".
The strike is the second one carried out by US forces in Afghanistan since an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) suicide bomber struck the airport last week, killing 13 US service members and more than 100 Afghan civilians.
Witnesses yesterday reported an explosion near the airport, and TV footage showed black smoke rising into the sky.
US military commanders believed another terror attack like the deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport is "highly likely", President Joe Biden warned on Saturday.
"The situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous, and the threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high," Mr Biden said.
"Our commanders informed me that an attack is highly likely in the next 24-36 hours."
US forces were in the final phase of pulling out of Kabul, as the country's Taleban rulers prepared to take control of the airport. Just over 1,000 civilians remained at the airport yesterday to be flown out before the troops finally leave, a Western security official said.
"We want to ensure that every foreign civilian and those who are at risk are evacuated today. Forces will start flying out once this process is over," said the official.
Mr Biden has said he will stick by his deadline to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by tomorrow. A US official said on Saturday that fewer than 4,000 service members remained at the airport.
The US and allied forces have mounted a massive two-week effort to ferry foreign nationals and tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans out of the country.
EVACUATION
The airlift - one of the biggest such evacuation operations ever - marked the end of a 20-year Western mission in Afghanistan that began when US-led forces ousted a Taleban government that had provided safe haven for the perpetrators of the Sept 11 attacks on the US in 2001.
The US and its allies have taken about 114,400 people out of Afghanistan in the past two weeks, but tens of thousands will be left behind.
"We tried every option because our lives are in danger. They (the Americans or foreigners) must show us a way to be saved. We should leave Afghanistan or they should provide a safe place for us," said one woman outside the airport.
A Taleban official said the group had engineers and technicians ready to take over charge of the airport.
"We are waiting for the final nod from the Americans to secure full control over Kabul airport as both sides aim for a swift handover," said the official.
Mr Biden headed yesterday to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to honour members of the military killed in the attack as their remains were returned to the US.
A Western security official said crowds at the Kabul airport gates had diminished after the warning from the US of another attack by ISIS-K, the branch of ISIS in Afghanistan. - REUTERS