13 Killed in Explosion Outside Kabul Airport; US Lawmakers Want Joe Biden to Ensure Taliban do not Get Nuclear Weapons from Pakistan

NEW DELHI, Aug 26: At least 13 people including some children are reported killed in a huge explosion just outside the compound of the Kabul airport on Thursday evening. The US military confirmed the explosion in the Afghanistan national capital but did not immediately give any casualty figure.

“We can confirm an explosion outside Kabul airport. Casualties are unclear at this time. We will provide additional details when we can,” said Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby, as the US-led airlift of thousands continued inside the compound.

US and allied officials have said they had intelligence that suicide bombers were threatening to attack the airport. Western nations warned their citizens Thursday to immediately leave the surrounds of Kabul airport over a terror threat, as thousands of people try to reach a dwindling number of evacuation flights.

Nearly 90,000 Afghans and foreigners have fled Afghanistan via the US-led airlift since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement took control of the country on August 15.

The US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the explosion outside the Kabul airport, media reports quoting White House officials said.

Earlier today, countries like France and the Netherlands announced that they will stop evacuation operations days ahead of the August 31 deadline for a complete withdrawal of US-led foreign troops in the wake of heightened security concerns in Kabul.

Britain had also warned its citizens to stay away from the Kabul airport, urging them to leave Afghanistan by other means if possible. UK’s armed forces minister James Heappey called the threat situation at the Hamid Karzai International Airport “very serious” and “imminent.”

The United States, however, said it will continue to evacuate as many people as it can until the end of the mission timeline.

“Evacuation operations in Kabul will not be wrapping up in 36 hours. We will continue to evacuate as many people as we can until the end of the mission. #HKIA” Kirby wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, some US lawmakers have requested Biden to ensure that the Taliban did not acquire nuclear weapons from Pakistan. In a letter addressed to the President, as many as 68 lawmakers from the House of Representatives and the Senate, also asked the US President to “outline” his plan to “move America forward.”

In a letter addressed to the President, as many as 68 lawmakers from the House of Representatives and the Senate, asked Biden to answer critical questions on the downfall of Afghanistan and what his plans are going forward.

“Are you prepared to support regional allies militarily in the event that the Taliban militarise the Afghanistan border? What is your plan to help to ensure that the Taliban do not destabilise its nuclear neighbour Pakistan and acquire nuclear weapons?” the group asked Biden in the letter.

The lawmakers further noted that over the past few weeks, the world became a spectacle of Taliban’s sweeping control over Afghanistan with surprising speed — which they hailed as the result of “unforced errors made by withdrawing completely the small remaining footprint of [US’] main military force.”

They also raised concerns over the unnecessary delay of the “evacuation of US personnel and its Afghan partners.”

The group in the letter highlighted that the effect of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years doesn’t only have consequences in the particular nation, or even the Middle East, but also carry strategic and geographical consequences that have already commenced to unravel and will continue for decades.

“Dealing with these consequences means that we must take action now to chart the course for American strategy, while we manage the immediate repercussions of this self-inflicted crisis in Afghanistan,” the letter noted, with the lawmakers asking Biden to “outline” his plan to “move America forward.”

They also detailed about the swift manner in which Afghanistan “metastasised” into Taliban rule accompanied by rekindled oppression to women and girls, and the restraint of civil society.

The lawmakers also pointed out that the insurgents’ comeback has triggered the displacement of innumerable Afghan nationals from their homes, who are then prevented by the Taliban by using force – and also a “power vacuum” that China seeks to fill by increasing its ties with the militants.

The group of lawmakers also asked Biden to lay out his plan on ensuring that al Qaeda does not “resurge and regain a foothold in Afghanistan.” “What ‘over the horizon’ operations are you prepared to use to counter this threat?” they asked, noting that the intelligence community has cautioned against al Qaeda and ISIS-K getting full liberty from the Taliban to use Afghanistan as a safe haven to train and equip for future terrorists.

Biden was also asked if the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan means that the group now has de facto command and control over the Afghan security forces’ former personnel, equipment and infrastructure. “If so, does this mean that the Taliban possess an air force through this de facto control? What is your plan to disable any air forces that operate under orders from the Taliban?” the letter asked.

The lawmakers further asked the US President about his plan to “reclaim US military equipment” that has already fallen to the hands of Taliban, and how he plans to ensure that additional US and Afghan equipment do not end up with the militants.

(Manas Dasgupta)