Rockets targeting US troops intercepted at Kabul airport

KABUL: Anti-missile defences intercepted as many as five rockets that were fired at Kabul’s airport early on Monday, as the United States rushed to complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The White House confirmed the attack and said that evacuation operations at the airport were not interrupted. It added that US President Joe Biden was briefed about the latest rocket attack on Monday morning aimed at the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul.

Afghan media said Monday’s rocket attack was launched from the back of a vehicle. The Pajhwok news agency said several rockets struck different parts of the Afghan capital. Initial reports did not indicate any US casualties from the latest rocket attack.

In a statement, the White House said President Joe Biden reconfirmed his order for commanders to do “whatever is necessary to protect our forces on the ground” after he was briefed on the attack. Biden was informed that airport operations continued uninterrupted, it added.

On Sunday, a US drone strike killed a suicide car bomber who Pentagon officials said had been preparing to attack the airport on behalf of ISIS-K, a local affiliate of Islamic State that is an enemy of both the West and the Taliban.

US Central Command said it was investigating reports of civilian casualties from Sunday’s drone strike. “We know there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties,” it said.

The drone attack killed seven people, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told China’s state television on Monday, criticising the US action on foreign soil as unlawful.

The spokesman said that it is unlawful for the US to launch attacks in other countries at will, adding that seven people were killed in Sunday’s drone strike.

“If there was any potential threat in Afghanistan, it should have been reported to us, not an arbitrary attack that has resulted in civilian casualties,” Mujahid said in a written response.

It was the second such condemnation after a US drone strike on Saturday killed two Islamic State militants in the eastern province of Nangarhar, in an attack the spokesman said had wounded two women and a child.

The attack comes a day after the US forces launched second drone attack in Afghanistan after Thursday’s suicide bombing at the airport that left nearly 200 people dead. At least 13 US troops were also among those killed. The US said it had wanted to take out suicide bombers in the latest drone attack in Kabul