Amid chaos and mayhem, the US on Thursday (local time) evacuated 7,500 people from Afghanistan after a twin blast rocked Kabul airport and Baron Hotel that killed 13 US troops and injured an additional 15 service members as well as numerous Afghan civilians.
"From August 26 at 3:00 AM EDT to August 26 at 3:00 PM EDT, a total of approximately 7,500 people were evacuated from Kabul. This is the result of 14 US military flights (13 C-17s and 1 C-130) which carried approximately 5,100 evacuees and 39 coalition flights which carried 2,400 people," stated a White House official.
The first blast was reported at the Abbey Gate in Kabul airport while the second one was near the Baron Hotel.
"Since August 14, the US has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 100,100 people. Since the end of July, we have re-located approximately 105,700 people," said the official.
The US flag will be flown at half-mast until the evening of August 30 to honour the victims killed in the terrorist attacks in Afghanistan's Kabul, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said.
US President Joe Biden said the United States has reason to believe the leaders of the Islamic State-Khorasan terror group are behind the attacks at the Kabul airport.
Biden said the Islamic State-Khorasan has planned complex attacks against US forces and others in Afghanistan after they were released from prisons during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
( With inputs from ANI )
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