ISIS claim responsibility for Kabul attacks and identify one of the suicide bombers
27 August 2021, 07:26 | Updated: 27 August 2021, 07:34
ISIS have claimed responsibility for the Kabul airport attacks and named one of the suicide bombers responsible.
Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul's airport, killing at least 73 Afghans and 13 US troops, officials said.
One blast happened at the airport's Abbey Gate, while a second occurred around the Baron Hotel, where people were being processed for evacuation.
IS identified one of the bombers as Abdul Rehman Al-Loghri - a member of the group's offshoot, ISIS-K.
In a statement shared by the group, an image of the man was shown, with him standing in front of the black IS flag, wearing the explosive belt. He also wore a black cloth covering his face, with only his eyes showing.
However, there was no mention of the second attacker or gunmen.
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ISIS revealed in its claim of responsibility that it had targeted American troops and their Afghan allies in the attack.
It also said members of the Taliban were among the casualties, with the extremist IS group viewing the Taliban as traitorous for agreeing to a peace deal with the United States.
The bomber was able to get past Taliban security checkpoints to come within five metres of a gathering of US soldiers, translators and collaborators before detonating his explosives, IS added.
The camp that was targeted was where US forces were gathering paperwork for those who have worked with the military.
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Nick Ferrari hits out at Biden's poor speech in the wake of US deaths
Following the explosions, Joe Biden warned that he would make the group pay, saying that "ISIS terrorists will not win" in a press conference.
He added that the loss of life - both of military personnel and civilians - had left him "outraged as well as heartbroken".
The UK and US still intend to continue their evacuation missions up until the August 31 deadline.
Boris Johnson said: "The conclusion is that we're able to continue with the programme in the way that we've been running it, according to the timetable we've got."
He said it would be done in "as fast and efficient a manner as possible in the hours that remain to us".
