Breaking News : Huge Explosion at Kabul Airport

[UKBengali]

I am actually surprised that it took so long and totally predictable.

You have thousands of people lining up outside the airport right next to Western troops and so it is very easy for a suicide bomber or two to get right up next to them and detonate their bombs without arising any suspicion beforehand.

 

[Reichsmarschall]

Don't understand the mad rush, Taliban is muslim organization. Its not like they are gonna kill muslims unnecessarily.

There will be million times more indians rushing to airport if a western country announces to airlift indians to their country

 

[Goenitz]

this is vert bad news for the Taliban

Taliban will now hunt these ISIS like no tomorrow

no stone should be left unturned

the ones who killed the civilians should be punished

If ISIS accept this, Pak should overtly help and ask International community to help Pak and taliban to defeat he ISIS-K

 

[PakFactor]

So what is the strategic gain (IF ANY); since Taliban if left alone to their devices will eventually "wipe out" ALL non-state actors from Afghanistan...

Strategic gain for the US in Afghanistan?
Their never was a strategic gain for the US, but it's everything for Pakistan.

Afghanistan is like Jerusalem and I'm reminded of the line from the Kingdom of Heaven: Jerusalem is nothing, then Saladin say's, it's everything. For an outsider it's a temporary outpost and has no value if you look at it long-term and the geostrategic location as all the elements never favored them from the beginning..

 

[ghazi52]

US officials believe ISIS-K likely responsible for attack, but still working to confirm, sources say

From CNN's Zachary Cohen and Natasha Bertrand

US officials believe ISIS-K was likely behind the attack at Kabul airport but are still working to confirm the terror group’s involvement, according to a senior US official and another source briefed on initial assessments.


The second source told CNN it may take a few hours before US officials are able to identify the specific individuals who carried out the apparent suicide bombing, which should confirm ISIS-K was responsible.

Warning signals have been out there for three days, the sources added.

Over the past week President Biden and the Pentagon have warned of an ISIS attack at the airport as the threat became more acute.

Biden has used this as rationale for getting US troops out by the deadline. He also promised a swift and forceful response to any disruption to the operation.


On Wednesday, CNN reported that concerns about security around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul have increased based on "a very specific threat stream" from ISIS-K about planned attacks against crowds outside the airport.

The US believes ISIS-K, which is a sworn enemy of the Taliban, wants to create mayhem at the airport and has intelligence streams suggesting it is capable and planning to carry out multiple attacks, a defense official told CNN Wednesday.

 

[Goenitz]

Just before the detonation…

Is that the suicide bomber in the drain?

 

[Adecypher]

Strategic gain for the US in Afghanistan?

I meant keeping an eye on China .... etc etc

 

[Goenitz]

• It came on the same day that several countries ended their evacuation efforts

 

[LeGenD]

you can keep paddling that.

I am not peddling anything but pointing out global consensus in relation.

"In 2014, Pakistani national Hafiz Saeed Khan was chosen to spearhead IS-K province as its first emir.3 Khan, a veteran Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander, brought along other prominent TTP members—including the group’s spokesman Sheikh Maqbool and many district chiefs—when he initially pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi in October 2014. Many of these individuals were included in the first Khorasan Shura or leadership council.4

IS-K’s early membership included a contingent of Pakistani militants who emerged in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province around 2010, just across the border from the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan.5 Many of these militants were estranged members of TTP and Lashkar-e Islam, who had fled Pakistan to escape pressure from security forces.6 The appointment of Khan as IS-K’s first emir, and former Taliban commander Abdul Rauf Khadim as his deputy, further facilitated the group’s growth, utilizing long established recruitment networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.7 According to the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point, as of 2017, some members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the Haqqani Network, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) had also defected to IS-K.8

IS-K has received support from the Islamic State’s core leadership in Iraq and Syria since its founding in 2015. As the Islamic State loses territory, it has increasingly turned to Afghanistan as a base for its global caliphate.9 Following IS-K’s official pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State’s global “ummah,” Islamic State wilayats (or provinces) in Iraq and Syria publicly announced their congratulations for the movement’s expansion into Central Asia through media statements and videos.10 To that end, the Islamic State has invested some financial resources in its Khorasan province—as much as several hundred thousand dollars—to improve its networks and organization in Central Asia.11 Additionally, a recent United Nations publication commented that “[ISIS] core continues to facilitate the relocation of some of its key operatives to Afghanistan,” including Abu Qutaiba, the Islamic State’s former leader in Iraq’s Salah al-Din province.12 Afghanistan remains a top destination for foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) in the region, as well as for fighters leaving battlefields in the Levant.13 IS-K’s public affairs prowess, global prestige, and sustained resources facilitate the recruitment of these FTFs, drawing them away from other militant movements."

Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) | Terrorism Backgrounders | CSIS

TNT Terrorism Backgrounder

www.csis.org

This information also comes from people who have investigated these groups in person or with support of others.

Nobody can come up with such detailed accounts from thin air.

 

[Adecypher]

On Wednesday, CNN reported that concerns about security around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul have increased based on "a very specific threat stream" from ISIS-K about planned attacks against crowds outside the airport.

The US believes ISIS-K, which is a sworn enemy of the Taliban, wants to create mayhem at the airport and has intelligence streams suggesting it is capable and planning to carry out multiple attacks, a defense official told CNN Wednesday.

And after ALL that credible threat alert WHY not changes been made to protect the lives ... it is just strange...

 

[PakFactor]

I meant keeping an eye on China .... etc etc

Their are many ways to keep an eye on China, and Afghanistan wasn't the logical solution the border with China is heavily manned with sensors, etc., a fly wouldn't get passed through. South Korea, Japan and other outlining nations around Chinese border would've provided better utility (and not to forget India).

Afghanistan, was US objective to corner Pakistan and Iran (and possibly) surround Russia. They needed to hunt 1 individual OBL it didn't require the full might of US Military to carry this objective and leave.

 

[Adecypher]

Their are many ways to keep an eye on China, and Afghanistan wasn't the logical solution the border with China is heavily manned with sensors, etc., a fly wouldn't get passed through. South Korea, Japan and other outlining nations around Chinese border would've provided better utility (and not to forget India).

Afghanistan, was US objective to corner Pakistan and Iran (and possibly) surround Russia. They needed to hunt 1 individual OBL it didn't require the full might of US Military to carry this objective and leave.

I just hope and pray that this very incident does not become the initiator of events which will undermine the peace process Pakistan have worked so hard to achieve in Afghanistan....ANY prolong chaos will directly benefit Pakistan's enemies.

 

[Black Tornado]

The toll has risen to 60

 

[ghazi52]

Top Republican congressman says Biden "must take decisive action to protect our troops"
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called on President Biden to take "decisive action to protect our troops, our citizens, and our allies without regard for an arbitrary deadline.”
McCarthy urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to act quickly to brief Congress on the blasts near the Kabul airport.
“It is time for Congress to act quickly to save lives. Speaker Pelosi must bring Congress back into session before August 31 so that we can be briefed thoroughly and comprehensively by the Biden Administration and pass Representative Gallagher’s legislation prohibiting the withdrawal of our troops until every American is out of Afghanistan," the California Republican said in a statement.
McCarthy extended his condolences to the families of those injured and killed in the attacks.
“Today’s attacks are horrific. My prayers go out to those who were injured and the families of those who were killed. I also continue to pray for the safety of our troops, the stranded American citizens, our allies and Afghan partners who remain in the area. Our enemies have taken advantage of the chaotic nature of the withdrawal.

 

[LeGenD]

Multiple American troops among casaulties.

ISKP claim responsibility for blast – as it happened

US officials confirm 13 US service members killed; Afghan health ministry says at least 60 civilians dead; Islamic State claims responsibility. This blog is closed.

www.theguardian.com