News Desk :
The number of people killed by the terror attack outside Kabul airport has risen to 170.
Among the dead are 32 men, three women and three children, according to reports, while 132 others are unidentifiable.
Isis-K, the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State (Isis), has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s suicide bombings, which left nearly 200 people wounded.
Previous reports said at least 13 US service members had been killed by the attack.
A suicide bomb was detonated as the situation at the airport continued to deteriorate, with people desperately trying to flee the country now the Taliban have taken control.
Previous reports suggested a second explosion was set off near the Baron Hotel, where the UK has been processing Britons and Afghans eligible for evacuation.
But today a Pentagon spokesman clarified that there was only one attack and that it was not clear how information coming from the scene became garbled.
There have been increased tensions as the August 31 deadline set by the US for with withdrawal of foreign forces looms.
Besides, evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday, a day after two suicide bombings targeted the thousands of desperate people fleeing the
Taliban takeover.
The US said further attempted attacks were expected ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for foreign troops to leave, ending the country’s longest war.
AFP adds: The Taliban has joined global leaders and Nato in condemning twin suicide bombs that ripped through crowds waiting to be evacuated outside Kabul airport, killing at least 85 people, including 13 US troops.
Here is a round-up of the reaction to Thursday’s attack on a mammoth airlift operation put in place after the Taliban’s power grab in Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden vowed to hunt down those behind the suicide bombings that killed 13 American troops in the worst single-day loss for the Pentagon in Afghanistan since 2011.
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden, visibly shaken, said in an address from the White House during which he said the evacuations of vulnerable people would continue until August 31.
There remained an “opportunity for the next several days, between now and the 31st, to be able to get them out”, he said.
“Knowing the threat, knowing that we may very well have another attack, the military has concluded that that’s what we should do. I think they are right.”
The Taliban condemned the blasts, but pointed out they happened in an area that was under the control of US military. “The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns the bombing targeting civilians at Kabul airport,” a statement released by the group’s spokesman on Twitter said.
“The explosion took place in an area where US forces are responsible for security.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the attack as “barbaric”, paying tribute to the “phenomenal effort” of those involved in the evacuation operation.
He said that Britain would “keep going up until the last moment”.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed “his condolences to the families of the American and Afghan victims” and saluted “the heroism of those who are on the ground to carry out the evacuation operations.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “The international community stands with the Afghan people.”
For Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, the bombings were an “act of cowardice,” while Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi condemned “this vile and horrible attack against defenceless people seeking liberty”.
Norway deplored that “innocent civilians trying to leave the country have become victims of this terrible act of cruelty.”
Sweden meanwhile paid tribute to the US service members: “We are grateful for all your efforts in making this historic evacuation operation possible.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to work with partners to resettle refugees in his country.
“Our hearts break for the people of Afghanistan and the loved ones of the victims, including the brave women and men of our allies,” he said.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “Our priority remains to evacuate as many people to safety as quickly as possible.”
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry rejected the attacks as “incompatible with all religious principles and moral and human values.”
The ministry said it stood “with the Afghan people” and offered “condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and the Afghan people”.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry deplored “this heinous attack in the strongest terms,” while Egypt decried the “gruesome terrorism.”
Iran, meanwhile, condemned “the targeting of Afghanistan’s defenceless people and any terrorist operation in which women, men, youth, and children are attacked.”
Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh “hoped that with the establishment of an inclusive government in Kabul, organizations and related institutions take charge of their duties in protecting the lives and properties of the people.”
Brazil urged all involved “to guarantee the protection of civilians, the respect of international humanitarian law, including the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid, and the respect of human rights, especially those of women and girls.”
Chile meanwhile called for “those who wish to leave the country” to be able to do so safely.
African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat tweeted: “The @AfricanUnion joins the world in prayer & deep sorrow for the innocent lives lost in yesterday’s horrific terrorist attacks at #Kabul airport, that we condemn in the strongest terms. Terrorism threatens our common humanity everywhere.”
