World leaders responded to the attacks on the Kabul airport in Afghanistan on Thursday after the attacks killed at least 60 Afghans and several members of the U.S. military.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called an emergency meeting on Thursday.
“The Prime Minister has been updated on the situation at the airport in Kabul and will chair a COBR (security meeting) later this afternoon,” a Number 10 spokesperson said.
Boris Johnson also tweeted, “I utterly condemn the barbaric terrorist attack in Kabul in which Afghans and members of the US military lost their lives. The threat of terrorist attack is one of the constraints we’ve been operating under, but our evacuation effort continues with over 12,000 extracted so far.”
I utterly condemn the barbaric terrorist attack in Kabul in which Afghans and members of the US military lost their lives.
The threat of terrorist attack is one of the constraints we’ve been operating under, but our evacuation effort continues with over 12,000 extracted so far. pic.twitter.com/DXCFPj9KQC
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 26, 2021
Speaking from Ireland, French President Emmanuel Macron said, “We will also closely coordinate on the issues to be dealt with in the near future, military cooperation, migration issues and cooperate with the UN Security Council, because in the coming days and weeks we will have to define the course of the mandate of the United Nations.”
He noted, “The coming hours will remain extremely dangerous in Kabul and around the airport.”
Macron added, “Nobody expected such a rapid and brutal situation in Kabul. President Biden confirmed to us during the G7 that he will leave the military airport and stop its operations with Afghanistan. I think de facto all of us are put in a position where we cannot protect all the Afghan people we wanted to protect.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also canceled her scheduled travel to Israel because of the tense situation in Afghanistan, a government spokesperson acknowledged on Thursday, per Reuters.
President Joe Biden chose to stick to the August 31st deadline of withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan, seemingly making the decision after the Taliban threatened there would be consequences if the U.S. went past its date, calling it a “red line.”
As reported by The Daily Wire:
Multiple explosions went off near Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday days before the United States expected to withdraw forces from Afghanistan.
The Pentagon confirmed one explosion near the airport Thursday morning. Fox News correspondent Jen Griffin reported another explosion immediately after at Kabul’s Baron Hotel, which has been a gathering place for Americans waiting to be evacuated from the country.
The Daily Wire added, “The attacks come as U.S. forces prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan and end a weeks-long rush to evacuate Americans and Afghan visa holders.”
“Four Americans, all U.S. Marines, were killed in Kabul Thursday after two bombings rocked the city near Hamid Karzai International Airport,” The Daily Wire reported.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday: “The U.S. ambassador in Kabul has told staff there that four U.S. Marines were killed in an explosion at the city’s airport and three wounded, a U.S. official with knowledge of the briefing said.”
The Daily Wire added, “The total number of injuries remains unclear, though early reports indicate over a dozen dead and dozens injured. The attacks took place hours after multiple NATO countries suspended evacuation operations citing the possibility of a terror attack. Thousands of people seeking extraction have crowded outside the perimeter of the airport in recent weeks. Taliban checkpoints have blocked most from getting through.”
“According to a source speaking to Fox News, hundreds of ISIS-K fighters are in the ‘vicinity’ of the airport and attacks are expected to continue. For days, ISIS fighters have been reported in the area triggering security alerts from NATO nations.”
This article has been expanded after publication to include additional content.