Afghanistan-Taliban Crisis LIVE Updates: At Least 85 Killed In Kabul Blasts, Joe Biden Warns Bombers

Afghanistan-Taliban Crisis LIVE Updates: US President Joe Biden has vowed to “hunt” down the terrorists and make them “pay” for the deadly attacks outside the Kabul airport

Islamic State suicide bombers attacked crowds of people gathered Thursday outside Kabul airport hoping to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, killing dozens including 13 US troops, as President Joe Biden vowed to hunt down those responsible.
The Taliban said the two blasts killed between 13 and 20 people. A health official in the previous government said the count is at least 85.

President Joe Biden has vowed to “hunt” down the terrorists and make them “pay” for the deadly attacks outside the Kabul airport in which 13 US service members were killed and 18 others wounded.

“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm notice, we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday.

Here are the LIVE Updates on the Afghanistan-Taliban crisis:

Afghan Evacuation Flights Restart After Deadly ISIS Suicide Bombings

The last German civilian plane carrying Afghans fleeing Taliban rule landed in Frankfurt on Friday, a day after the country’s armed forces said they had finished their evacuation operation at Kabul airport.

The final German military aircraft carrying soldiers and German and Afghan civilians left Kabul for Tashkent on Thursday.

An Afghan student who was on the onward flight to Germany from Uzbekistan said he never wanted to return to his homeland after seeing his desperate countrymen sleeping outside Kabul airport for days.

“The past few days were very burdensome,” said the 28-year-old. “People have been spending the night near the airport for days to maybe get a chance to get near the entrance and then get inside somehow. It is very tough for us and when you see the people there, it’s hard to take.”

Germany says it has received assurances from the Taliban that Afghans with legal documents will be able to travel on commercial flights beyond Aug. 31, when the last NATO troops will leave the country.

Indian envoy at UN Security Council condemns Kabul terrorist attack

India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti on Thursday condemned the terrorist attack in Kabul and extended condolences to the families of the victims.

“In the UN #SecurityCouncil meeting this afternoon on Ethiopia, I prefaced my statement by strongly condemning the #terroristattack in #Kabul today,” tweeted Mr. Tirumurti.

Mr. Tirumurti was speaking at United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Peace and Security in Africa. The meeting was on the worsening situation in Ethiopia, amid the Tigray crisis.

“Let me begin by strongly condemning the terrorist attack in Kabul today. We extend our heartful condolences to the families of the victims of this terrorist attack. Today’s attacks reinforce the need for the world to stand unitedly against terrorism and all those who provide sanctuaries to terrorists,” said the Indian envoy.

Britain to end evacuations from Afghanistan ‘in a matter of hours’: defense minister

Britain said Friday that it plans to complete its evacuations out of Afghanistan “in a matter of hours”.

“We will process those people that we have brought with us, the 1,000 people approximately inside the airfield now,” British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News. “And we will seek a way to continue to find a few people in the crowd, where we can, but overall the main processing has now closed and we have a matter of hours.”