Death Toll From Kabul Terror Attacks Grows To The Hundreds, Sources Say Toll May Climb Higher

The death toll from Thursday’s terrorist attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan, has risen overnight, with more than 200 people now estimated to have died in twin suicide bombs near Hamid Karzai International Airport, where so many were frantically attempting to leave the country on final evacuation flights.

“The death toll in a pair of suicide bombings that rocked Kabul yesterday has now risen to nearly 200 on Friday as evacuation flights remain ongoing,” Fox News reported Friday. “169 Afghans were killed according to two officials who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The U.S. said 13 service members were killed in the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since August 2011.”

The arrival of information about victims has been slow. The death toll remained under 100 at the end of the day Thursday. On the ground in Kabul, a New York Times correspondent warned that the Taliban seemed to be directing Kabul’s health care professionals not to provide timely and precise death counts, which may result that fatalities are underreported.

According to a US source, Fox News was told that the “death toll for the attack could climb higher still because some people may have taken bodies away from the scene before they could be counted.”

As of Thursday evening, 13 US military personnel had been killed and 20 had been wounded, with at least half of those hospitalized in critical condition.

The two terror attacks occurred close outside the packed HKIA airfield, where hundreds of Afghans, US residents, green card holders, and other nationalities had gathered since the Taliban steamrolled into Kabul and retook Afghanistan’s capital city earlier this month. After a stunning mistake about the Taliban’s military capabilities, the US has reportedly evacuated about 100,000 people, flying roughly 5,000 Americans and many more Afghan allies out of HKIA in recent days.

The US revealed on Thursday that it has been depending on the Taliban as a “security partner” in managing evacuations, but claims have surfaced in recent days of the Taliban preventing all except American citizens from accessing airport grounds. The suicide bomber reportedly slipped past Taliban troops and made it all the way to the last checks before entering HKIA. A second bomber struck the Baron Hotel, which was considered the most secure accommodation in Kabul and where Americans who had been trapped in Kabul were reportedly awaiting evacuation.

The assault was claimed by ISIS-K, a Taliban branch organization operating in the nation, on Thursday night. According to CNBC, the US warned on Friday that additional terrorist strikes are likely on the way.“We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks and we expect those attacks to continue,” Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command said in a Pentagon briefing on Thursday, adding that there is an “extremely active threat stream against the airfield.”

“So very, very real threat streams, what we would call tactical that means imminent, could occur at any moment,” he said.

Late Thursday, President Joe Biden planned to keep the evacuation operation, stating that the United States “will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation,” but sources on the ground said late Thursday that some HKIA gates were being “welded shut,” and the US military was bumping up the timeline for withdrawing forces from Kabul. The 82nd Airborne Division was reported to be leaving ahead of schedule on Thursday by the Daily Wire.

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