U.S. Marines present help at an Evacuation Management Checkpoint (ECC) throughout an evacuation at Hamid Karzai Worldwide Airport, Afghanistan, August 22, 2021.
US Marines | Reuters
WASHINGTON – The USA carried out a navy strike on Sunday in opposition to an ISIS-Ok goal in Kabul, a improvement that comes within the ultimate days of an immense humanitarian evacuation mission.
“U.S. navy forces performed a self-defense unmanned over-the-horizon airstrike as we speak on a car in Kabul, eliminating an imminent ISIS-Ok risk to Hamad Karzai Worldwide airport,” U.S. Central Command spokesman Navy Capt. Invoice City wrote in an announcement.
“We’re assured we efficiently hit the goal. Vital secondary explosions from the car indicated the presence of a considerable quantity of explosive materials,” he added.
There have been no identified civilian casualties following the strike.
The newest strike follows a Friday drone strike that killed two high-profile ISIS-K members in Afghanistan. The Pentagon stated Saturday that the strike focused two ISIS-Ok members believed to be concerned in planning assaults in opposition to U.S. forces in Kabul. Military Maj. Gen. William Taylor stated that there have been no identified civilian casualties following the strike.
Sunday’s strike comes within the wake of a warning from President Joe Biden’s nationwide safety crew a day earlier that an assault on the airport in Kabul is “highly likely in the next 24-36 hours.”
“The scenario on the bottom continues to be extraordinarily harmful, and the specter of terrorist assaults on the airport stays excessive,” President Joe Biden stated in an announcement Saturday, including that he directed U.S. commanders to “take each potential measure to prioritize pressure safety.”
Marine Corps Common Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, instructed reporters Thursday that ISIS is more likely to attempt to proceed assaults earlier than the evacuations conclude.
“We consider it’s their need to proceed these assaults and we anticipate these assaults to proceed,” the four-star common instructed reporters on the Pentagon, including that the U.S. was monitoring an “extraordinarily lively risk stream in opposition to the airfield.”
McKenzie, who oversees U.S. navy operations within the area, stated the threats in opposition to Western forces and civilians on the airport ranged from gunfire to rockets to suicide bombings.
“So very, very actual risk streams, what we might name tactical which means imminent, might happen at any second,” he stated. McKenzie stated that he didn’t foresee requesting further U.S. troops for the mission.
Within the final 24 hours, Western forces evacuated 2,900 individuals out of Kabul on 41 navy cargo plane flights. Because the mass evacuations started on August 14, roughly 114,400 individuals have been airlifted out of Afghanistan.
About 120,000 individuals have been evacuated because the finish of July, together with about 5,400 U.S. residents and their households.
State Division spokesman Ned Worth stated Friday that roughly 500 People are nonetheless searching for evacuation.
This story is growing. Please verify again for updates.