According to President Joe Biden, the United States will strike ISIS as retaliation for bombings that killed 12 U.S. soldiers in Kabul on Thursday.
“To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. I’ll defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command,” Biden said from the White House in Washington.
The president directed military officials to prepare plans to attack ISIS fighters and facilities.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
“We will respond with force and precision at our time, at a place we choose, at a moment of our choosing,” he said.
“These ISIS terrorists will not win. America will not be intimidated.”
ISIS claimed responsibility and boasted that the suicide bomber had made it through both the Taliban checkpoints as well as the U.S. security presence at Afghanistan’s largest city.
According to the ISIS terrorist, he “managed a large gathering translators and collaborators with the American army, then he detonated the explosive belt.” The group claimed that the attacker managed to reach within five meters of U.S. troops at the eastern gate of the airport.
Officials from the United States have estimated that 12 Americans are dead and another 15 soldiers have been wounded.
Numerous Afghans were also among the casualties.
Biden spoke for a short moment after the U.S.-held Kabul airport was hit by an explosion. Biden and his administration colleagues were unable to speak except for a briefing from a U.S. general. This led to calls for his resignation by leading Republicans.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were both “outraged” by the losses and “heartbroken”, adding that their hearts are with the families who have lost loved ones.
He related how his late son, Beau Biden, died of cancer after serving in the military, recounting feeling “like you’re being sucked into a black hole in the middle of your chest.”
U.S. troops have been working with the Taliban terrorist group to conduct mass evacuations of the country. They took control of Afghanistan in July. Biden stated that there is no evidence that the Taliban were involved in the attack, or allowed it to happen, echoing General Kenneth McKenzie.
Late Thursday night, new explosions rocked Kabul’s airport. According to a Taliban spokesperson, the explosions were caused by U.S forces “to destroy their equipment,” inciting fear that the Americans will withdraw before the August 31 deadline Biden had set.
But the president said the plan is, as of now, to remain until the deadline.
The president stated that people still need assistance to flee the country, even Americans. They are correct, I believe. They are correct, I believe.”
