Americans in Afghanistan are scrambling to get out of the country this week, after the Taliban terror organization conquered Kabul, and reinvented the nation as “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”.
And so the mad dash to the Kabul airport was on, with not only our fellow countrymen attempting to escape the brutal regime to come, but also our allies; Afghan nationals who worked hand-in-hand with US forces, and whose lives could be very much at risk should the Taliban seek to exact revenge on them.
But even getting to this crucial airfield has proven difficult, with suicide bombers targeting the throngs outside the gate, and now rockets being launched into the airport’s general vicinity.
Rocket fire apparently targeting Kabul’s international airport struck a nearby neighborhood on Monday, the eve of the deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. The Islamic State group claimed the attack, and there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Luckily, the evacuations continued.
The rockets did not halt the steady stream of U.S. military C-17 cargo jets taking off and landing at the airport. Afghanistan’s IS affiliate launched a devastating suicide bombing Thursday at one of the airport gates that killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.
The extremist group is far more radical than the Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan earlier this month after capturing most of Afghanistan in a matter of days. The two groups have fought each other in the past, and the Taliban have pledged to not harbor terrorist groups.
US President Joe Biden, who was responsible for the hasty nature of this premature troop withdrawal, was forced to negotiate with the Taliban this week, having to ask for an evacuation extension.
