Tulsi Gabbard expresses grief over lives lost in Kabul blasts, highlights threats from ISIS, al-Qaeda

Warning against threats from terrorist groups ISIS and al-Qaeda, former US Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard on Friday expressed grief over lives lost in the recent blasts in Kabul, including those of 13 American troops.

The death toll from yesterday's twin blasts in Kabul has surged to more than 90 people killed, CNN reported. The report said that more than 150 people were wounded by the blasts.

"Our hearts go out to the families of our brothers and sisters who were killed and wounded in the terrorist attacks in Kabul. Because I'm on active duty, I'm limited to what I can say," Gabbard said in a video posted on Twitter.

While condemning the incident, Gabbard said that threats from terrorist groups ISIS and al-Qaeda are "alive and well". "But what I can say is this incident should remind the American people that ISIS and al-Qaeda are alive and well, and actively continuing to use terror to try to force the world to accept their demand that we convert to their interpretation of Islam," she said.

Gabbard also accused the "American power elite" of downplaying the terrorist threat for many years for various reasons, "which I will be talking about more in-depth in the near future."

These remarks come in the backdrop of growing criticism over the Biden administration's handling of the US military drawdown from Afghanistan and the Taliban's lightning takeover of Kabul.

Amid the barrage of criticism from the opposition, Biden on Thursday vowed the United States will carry out strikes against the group responsible for the bombings that killed American troops.

"To those who carried out this attack...know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," Biden said in prepared remarks from the East Room of the White House.

The President further added the US has "some reason to believe" the US knows the identities of the ISIS leaders who ordered the attacks. "We will find ways of our choosing, without large military operations, to get them - wherever they are."

Biden in his message said he asked military commanders for plans to strike ISIS-K, saying the US will respond with "precision...at a place that we choose, and the moment of our choosing."

( With inputs from ANI )

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