More Afghans killed from American firing than blast at Kabul airport: Reports

A recent report by BBC has revealed that a significant number of those killed during the attack on Kabul airport were shot dead by the US forces in the panic after the blast.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant- Khorasan (ISIL/ISIS-K) group’s suicide attack on the Kabul airport on Thursday killed around 175 Afghans and 13 United States (US) troops.

Journalist Secunder Kermani of BBC, sharing his special report on Twitter, wrote: “Many we spoke to, including eyewitnesses, said significant numbers of those killed were shot dead by US forces in the panic after the blast.”

In the video, an eyewitness said, “It was doomsday for us, I saw American soldiers and some Turkish soldiers, the fire came from the bridges, and towers from the soldiers.”

Another eyewitness holding the identity card of his relative said, “He has served the US army for years, he wasn’t killed by Taliban, he wasn’t killed ISIS. He died from the shelling.”

“How can you be so sure?” questioned Secunder.

“Because of the bullet, it went right through his neck, he doesn’t have an injury.”

American forces launched a drone strike in Kabul on Sunday targeting a suicide bomber in a vehicle who was aiming to attack the airport, US officials said, as the US nears the end of its military presence in the city.

The strike is the second carried out by US forces in Afghanistan since a militant Islamic State (IS) group’s suicide bomber struck the airport on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden was briefed on the rocket attack at the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul and was informed that operations at the airport were not interrupted, the statement said.

#UPDATES US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the rocket attack at Kabul airport and "operations continue uninterrupted," his press secretary Jen Psaki says pic.twitter.com/w3BOS9ar0Q

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 30, 2021

“National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chief of Staff Ron Klain have briefed the President on the rocket attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport,” it added.

As many as five rockets were fired at Kabul’s international airport but were intercepted by a missile defense system, a US official told Reuters earlier.

US and allied forces are hurrying to evacuate their remaining citizens and at-risk Afghans before completing their own withdrawal by Tuesday to meet a deadline agreed between the Taliban and Washington.