US anti-missile system fired to intercept rockets at Kabul airport

Authored by 6abc.com and submitted by decapentaplegical
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A destroyed vehicle is seen inside a house after a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. AP Photo/Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi

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KABUL, Afghanistan -- Rocket fire apparently targeting Kabul's international airport struck a nearby neighborhood Monday, the eve of the deadline for American troops to withdraw from the country's longest war after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. It wasn't immediately clear if anyone was hurt.A U.S. official told ABC News that five rockets were fired toward Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Sunday night.The official said the U.S. military's anti-projectile C-RAM was fired to intercept the incoming rockets, though it is not yet clear how many it took out, if any.The rockets did not halt the steady stream of U.S. military C-17 cargo jets taking off and landing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Last week, the Islamic State group launched a devastating suicide bombing at one of the airport gates that killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.The airport repeatedly has been a scene of chaos in the two weeks since the Taliban blitz across Afghanistan that took control of the country, nearly 20 years after the initial U.S. invasion that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But since the suicide bombing, the Taliban have tightened their security cordon around the airfield, with their fighters seen just up to the last fencing separating them from the runway.In the capital's Chahr-e-Shaheed neighborhood, a crowd quickly gathered around the remains of a four-door sedan used by the attackers, which had what appeared to be six homemade rocket tubes mounted where the backseat should be. The Islamic State group and other militants routinely mount such tubes into vehicles and quietly transport them undetected close to a target."I was inside the house with my children and other family members, suddenly there were some blasts," said Jaiuddin Khan, who lives nearby. "We jumped into the house compound and lay on the ground."The rockets landed across town in Kabul's Salim Karwan neighborhood, striking residential apartment blocks, witnesses said. That neighborhood is some 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) from the airport. There were no immediate reports of injuries.In Washington, the White House issued a statement saying officials briefed President Joe Biden on "the rocket attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport" in Kabul, apparently referring to the vehicle-based rocket launch that morning."The president was informed that operations continue uninterrupted at HKIA, and has reconfirmed his order that commanders redouble their efforts to prioritize doing whatever is necessary to protect our forces on the ground," the statement said, using an acronym for Kabul's airport.The U.S. military did not respond to requests for comment. After the rocket fire, planes continued to land and taxi across to the northern military side of the airport. Planes took off roughly every 20 minutes at one point Monday morning.Smoke from several fires along the airport's perimeter could be seen throughout Monday. It wasn't clear what was ablaze, though U.S. forces typically destroy material and equipment they won't take with them during the evacuation.The airport had been one of the few ways out for foreigners and Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover. However, coalition nations have halted their evacuations in recent days, leaving the U.S. military largely alone at the base with some remaining allied Afghan forces providing security.The U.S. State Department released a statement Sunday signed by around 100 countries, as well as NATO and the European Union, saying they had received "assurances" from the Taliban that people with travel documents would still be able to leave the country.The Taliban have said they will allow normal travel after the U.S. withdrawal is completed on Tuesday and they assume control of the airport. However, it remains unclear how the militants will run the airport and which commercial carriers will begin flying into the field given the ongoing security concerns there.While the Taliban has honored a pledge not to attack Western forces so long as they evacuate by Tuesday, the threat from the Islamic State's local affiliate remains a danger. The group, known as the Khorasan Province after a historic name for the region, saw some of its members freed as the Taliban released prisoners across the country during their takeover.On Sunday, a U.S. drone strike blew up a vehicle carrying Islamic State suicide bombers before they could attack the ongoing military evacuation at Kabul's airport, American officials said. However, the Taliban said the strike killed at least 10 people - including civilians and three children, sparking anger over the civilian casualties.U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the American military's Central Command, acknowledged the reports of civilian casualties."We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life," he said in a statement.The U.S. carried out another drone strike elsewhere in the country on Saturday that it said killed two Islamic State members.By Tuesday, the U.S. is set to conclude a massive two-week-long airlift of more than 114,000 Afghans and foreigners and withdraw the last of its troops, ending America's longest war with the Taliban back in power.However, Afghans remain fearful of the Taliban returning to the oppressive rule for which it was once known. There have been sporadic reports of killings and other abuses in the sweep across the country.Meanwhile, a cross-border shooting across the frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan killed two Pakistani soldiers, the military said. Pakistani troops "responded in a befitting manner" after the attack in the district of Bajur of the country's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said.

Rameon_Dryan716 on August 30th, 2021 at 03:56 UTC »

The US struck explosives using missles without explosive payloads, the reason the casualties happened was the explosives that suicide bombers had in the vehicle(s) and building.

Edit: before anyone wants to argue about this, I’m not defending anything that happened but I will say there’s no easy choice in this situation and I wish it was possible to have no child casualties or really any. That being said it’s probable (and likely) those explosives would’ve been used on the people who want to get away from the taliban and even the troops who didn’t choose this war but are there helping evacuate those in need and get home themselves.

since80 on August 30th, 2021 at 00:16 UTC »

Ahmaduddin, a neighbor, said he had collected the bodies of children after the strike, which set off more explosions inside the house. Now what explosion killed whom? Why are explosives stored in an apartment building? And how many victims would these bombs have caused at their destination? Not accidentally, but purposefully.

green_flash on August 29th, 2021 at 23:50 UTC »

A U.S. drone strike blew up a vehicle carrying "multiple suicide bombers" from Afghanistan's Islamic State affiliate on Sunday.

Witnesses to the drone strike said it targeted two cars parked in a residential building near the airport, killing and wounding several civilians.

I'm having trouble matching the two accounts. These suicide bombers were sitting in the parked car with their vests strapped on?