US PRESIDENT JOE Biden has pledged to hunt down the perpetrators of the suicide bombings in Kabul that killed 12 American troops and dozens of others.
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said in an address from the White House during which he praised the slain US troops as “heroes.”
Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers said the two blasts killed between 13 and 20 people. A health official in the previous government said the toll could rise to 60.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the airport attack, which added urgency and more heartbreak to the frantic race to get people out of Afghanistan.
Biden reaffirmed the 31 August deadline for withdrawal of US troops and said he stands by his decision to withdraw troops from the country.
He vowed that the United States will not be deterred from its mission to evacuate thousands of civilians from Afghanistan despite the deadly suicide attack.
“We will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation,” Biden said.
During the address Biden said he has seen no evidence that the Taliban colluded with Islamic State militants in carrying out the bombings.
“There is no evidence thus far that I’ve been given as a consequence by any of the commanders in the field that there has been collusion between the Taliban and ISIS in carrying out what happened today,” Biden said.
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