Sunday 29th August 2021
Explosion near airport
Missile is said to have hit house in Kabul
An explosion can be heard in Kabul and black smoke rises. The reason for this has not yet been clarified. However, several witnesses speak of a rocket impact near the airport.
The Afghan capital Kabul has been hit again by an explosion. Eyewitnesses report an explosion near Kabul Airport. Video recordings show black smoke rising. Apparently it was a missile attack, report two eyewitnesses. A former Afghan government official said the explosion was caused by a missile that initially reported “hit a house”.
The incident occurred just three days after the devastating suicide attack at the city’s airport, which the regional branch of the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) claimed to be, with more than a hundred dead. The US warned on Saturday of a persistently high risk of attacks. Accordingly, the US Army leadership considered an attack within “24 to 36 hours” to be “very likely”.
In the suicide attack at Kabul airport on Thursday, which probably killed more than 100 people, 13 US soldiers were also killed. In retaliation for the attack, the US Army flew a drone attack on the IS-K offshoot on Saturday night. According to the Pentagon, two high-ranking members of the Islamist splinter group were killed. US President Joe Biden announced further retaliatory attacks.
Detonations caused by the US military are also possible in Kabul. The Pentagon announced on Friday that further controlled demolitions by the military would be possible until the last US troops withdrew on Tuesday. The aim is to destroy parts of military equipment that should not be left behind to the militant Islamist Taliban. At the same time, the danger of another terrorist attack by Islamists is high, according to the White House. US President Joe Biden believes an attack before the final withdrawal is “very likely”.
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