Rockets fired at Kabul airport but US flights continue

By KATHY GANNON

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Rocket occurrence seemingly targeting Kabul’s planetary airdrome struck a adjacent vicinity connected Monday, the eve of the deadline for U.S. troops to retreat from Afghanistan aft 20 years of war. The Islamic State radical claimed the attack, and determination were nary contiguous reports of casualties.

The rockets did not halt the dependable watercourse of U.S. subject C-17 cargo jets taking disconnected and landing astatine the airport. Afghanistan’s IS affiliate launched a devastating termination bombing Thursday astatine 1 of the airdrome gates that killed astatine slightest 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. work members.

The extremist radical is acold much extremist than the Taliban, who seized powerfulness successful Afghanistan earlier this period aft capturing astir of Afghanistan successful a substance of days. The 2 groups person fought each different successful the past, and the Taliban person pledged to not harbor violent groups.

The Taliban tightened their information cordon astir the airfield aft the attack, clearing distant monolithic crowds of Afghans who were hopeless to fly the state successful the waning days of the U.S.-led airlift. Taliban fighters are present stationed on a obstruction adjacent the main runway.

In the capital’s Chahr-e-Shaheed neighborhood, a assemblage rapidly gathered astir the remains of a four-door sedan utilized by the attackers. The car had what appeared to beryllium six homemade rocket tubes mounted successful spot of backmost seats. IS and different militant groups routinely equine specified tubes into vehicles successful bid to determination them undetected.

“I was wrong the location with my children and different household members, abruptly determination were immoderate blasts,” said Jaiuddin Khan, who lives nearby. “We jumped into the location compound and laic connected the ground.”

Some of the rockets landed crossed municipality successful the Salim Karwan neighborhood, striking residential flat blocks, witnesses said. That vicinity is immoderate 3 kilometers (less than 2 miles) from the airport. There were nary contiguous reports of injuries.

Five rockets targeted the airport, said Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesperson for the U.S. military’s Central Command. A antiaircraft limb known by the acronym C-RAM — a Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System — targeted the rockets successful a whirling hail of ammunition, Urban said. The strategy has a distinct, drill-like dependable that echoed done the metropolis astatine the clip of the attack.

The IS statement, carried by the group’s Amaq media outlet, claimed the militants fired six rockets.

The White House said officials briefed President Joe Biden connected “the rocket onslaught astatine Hamid Karzai International Airport,” seemingly referring to the vehicle-based rocket launch.

“The president was informed that operations proceed uninterrupted astatine HKIA, and has reconfirmed his bid that commanders redouble their efforts to prioritize doing immoderate is indispensable to support our forces connected the ground,” the connection said, utilizing an acronym for Kabul’s airport.

After the rocket fire, planes continued to onshore and taxi crossed to the bluish subject broadside of the airport. Planes took disconnected astir each 20 minutes astatine 1 constituent Monday morning. One C-17 landing successful the day changeable disconnected flares arsenic it approached — a maneuver to support against heat-seeking missiles and a motion that the U.S. subject remains acrophobic astir surface-to-air missiles escaped successful the country.

Smoke from respective fires on the airport’s perimeter could beryllium seen Monday. It wasn’t wide what was ablaze, though U.S. forces typically destruct worldly and instrumentality they won’t instrumentality with them.

The airdrome had been 1 of the fewer ways retired for foreigners and Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover. However, conjugation nations person halted their evacuations successful caller days, leaving the U.S. subject mostly unsocial astatine the basal with immoderate remaining allied Afghan forces.

The White House said Monday that implicit the past 24 hours, the American subject carried retired immoderate 1,200 evacuees connected 26 C-17 flights, portion 2 conjugation flights flew retired 50 others. Since the extremity of July, U.S. forces person evacuated astir 122,300 people, it said.

Ross Wilson, the chargé d’affaires astatine the U.S. Embassy successful Kabul present moving retired of the airport, insisted those evacuations remained ongoing successful a connection connected Twitter.

“This is simply a high-risk operation,” Wilson wrote. “Claims that American citizens person been turned distant oregon denied entree to HKIA by Embassy unit oregon US Forces are false.” He did not elaborate.

The U.S. State Department released a connection Sunday signed by astir 100 countries, arsenic good arsenic NATO and the European Union, saying they had received “assurances” from the Taliban that radical with question documents would inactive beryllium capable to leave.

The Taliban person said they volition let mean question aft the U.S. withdrawal is completed connected Tuesday and they presume power of the airport. However, it remains unclear however the militants volition tally the airdrome and which commercialized carriers volition statesman flying in, fixed the ongoing information concerns.

With the withdrawal of the past of its troops, the U.S. is acceptable to extremity its longest warfare with the Taliban backmost successful power. Many Afghans stay fearful of the instrumentality of Taliban rule, and determination person been sporadic reports of killings and different abuses successful areas controlled by the group.

The Taliban person honored a pledge not to onslaught Western forces truthful agelong arsenic they evacuate by Tuesday, but IS remains a threat. The group, known arsenic the Khorasan Province aft a historical sanction for the region, saw immoderate of its members freed arsenic the Taliban released prisoners during their takeover.

On Sunday, a U.S. drone onslaught blew up a conveyance carrying IS termination bombers earlier they could onslaught the ongoing subject evacuation astatine Kabul’s airport, American officials said. However, the Taliban said the onslaught killed astatine slightest 10 radical — including civilians and 3 children, sparking choler implicit the civilian casualties.

Urban acknowledged the reports of civilian casualties.

“We would beryllium profoundly saddened by immoderate imaginable nonaccomplishment of guiltless life,” helium said successful a statement.

The U.S. carried retired different drone onslaught elsewhere successful the state Saturday; it said 2 IS members were killed.

Meanwhile, a cross-border shooting crossed the frontier betwixt Afghanistan and Pakistan killed 2 Pakistani soldiers, the subject said. Pakistani troops “responded successful a befitting manner” aft the onslaught successful the territory of Bajur of the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the subject said.

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Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Rahim Faiez successful Istanbul, Munir Ahmed successful Islamabad, Samy Magdy successful Cairo, Joseph Krauss successful Jerusalem and Robert Burns and Lou Kesten successful Washington contributed.