Rockets hit neighborhood near Kabul airport amid US pullout

KABUL, Afghanistan — Rockets struck a vicinity adjacent Kabul’s planetary airdrome connected Monday amid the ongoing U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. It wasn’t instantly wide who launched them.

The rockets struck Monday greeting successful Kabul’s Salim Karwan neighborhood, witnesses said. Gunfire instantly followed the explosions but it wasn’t instantly wide who was firing.

The witnesses, who spoke connected information of anonymity for fearfulness of reprisals, said they heard the dependable of 3 explosions and past saw a flash successful the sky. People fled aft the blasts, they said.

U.S. officials did not instantly respond to requests for comment. U.S. subject cargo planes continued their evacuations astatine the airdrome aft the rocket fire.

In Washington, the White House issued a connection saying officials briefed President Joe Biden connected “the rocket onslaught astatine Hamid Karzai International Airport” successful Kabul.

“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.

On Sunday, a U.S. drone onslaught blew up a conveyance carrying “multiple termination bombers” from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate connected Sunday earlier they could onslaught the ongoing subject evacuation astatine Kabul’s planetary airport, American officials said. An Afghan authoritative said 3 children were killed successful the strike.

The U.S. is to retreat from Afghanistan by Tuesday. By then, the U.S. is acceptable to reason a monolithic two-week-long airlift of much than 114,000 Afghans and foreigners and retreat the past of its troops, ending America’s longest warfare with the Taliban backmost successful power.

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 permission the country. 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, Afghans stay fearful of the Taliban returning to the oppressive regularisation for which it was erstwhile known. There person been sporadic reports of killings and different abuses successful the expanse crossed the country.

Earlier this week, an Islamic State termination onslaught extracurricular the airdrome killed astatine slightest 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. work members. The U.S. carried retired a drone onslaught elsewhere successful the state connected Saturday that it said killed 2 members of the Islamic State’s section affiliate successful Afghanistan, which has battled the Taliban successful the past.

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Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Lou Kesten successful Washington contributed to this report.