(CMR) The Pentagon has confirmed that twelve US service members, 11 Marines and one Navy medic, were among those killed in Thursday’s attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
A pair of explosions, believed to be suicide bombings from the terrorist network ISIS-K, rocked the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and the nearby Baron hotel.
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said 15 more US soldiers had been injured, and a “number of Afghan civilians” were also killed or injured. Scores of people, about 60, have also been injured in the attacks.
“While we’re saddened by the loss of life, both US and Afghan, we’re continuing to execute the mission,” McKenzie said.
He said about 1,000 American citizens remain in Afghanistan.
The Taliban government said it “strongly condemns” the bombing outside the Kabul airport and said the attack occurred in an area where the US is responsible for security.
The attack was believed to have been orchestrated by the ISIS-K terrorist network, an enemy of the Taliban.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, said his group “strongly condemned” the attack and was paying close attention to security.
The militant group, which has been trying to control the mass of people at the airport gates, has pledged not to attack Western forces during the evacuation but wants foreign troops out by America’s self-imposed deadline of Tuesday.
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