General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), confirmed that 12 U.S. service members were killed while an additional 15 were injured in the suicide attacks outside the Kabul airport Thursday. He was clear that the U.S. airlift operation will carry on despite the twin bombings outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport but was clear about the "very real threat" from ISIS-K, adding that he expects attacks to continue. "Typically, the pattern is multiple attacks," McKenzie said.
The first suicide attack was carried out near the "entry point of the base" with what McKenzie believes to be one bomb detonated by someone before he or she was able to get inside the airport's Abbey Gate or onto the installation. The suicide bomber was in a group of people moving toward the airport for screening by U.S. personnel before being allowed onto the airfield at HKIA and ultimately aboard a plane departing Afghanistan.
"Americans have got to be in danger to do these searches," McKenzie said of the screening procedures aimed at preventing someone with a bomb or other weapon from getting on a plane.
"We expected" an attack, McKenzie said. "We thought this would happen sooner or later."
General McKenzie: "We expected it. We thought this would happen sooner or later. It's tragic that it happened today. It's tragic there was this much loss of life." pic.twitter.com/hh0yzPNOkn
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 26, 2021
McKenzie reported that the United States is "still investigating" the "cowardly" attack before making official its attribution for the suicide bombings, but insisted that "we have the forces we need to protect ourselves."
The Taliban fighters operating the checkpoints around Kabul's airport have been doing some initial screening of people headed to the airfield for evacuation, McKenzie noted, saying he believes that other suicide attacks "have been thwarted" by the Taliban checkpoints. He also revealed that some intelligence and threat stream information has been shared with the Taliban, but not a full picture.
GENERAL MCKENZIE: "The threat from ISIS is extremely real...We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks, and we expect those attacks to continue, and we're doing everything we can to prepare for those attacks. That includes reaching out to the Taliban." pic.twitter.com/I57TSs2egt
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 26, 2021
The U.S. military will continue to use the "Taliban as a tool to protect us as much as possible," McKenzie added.
Pentagon confirms the United States will continue to rely on the Taliban for security outside of the airport.
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) August 26, 2021
McKenzie reported that there are "very, very real threat streams" that suggest the American forces operating at HKIA are still under threat of "imminent" attacks.
The threats include rocket attacks against HKIA, but there are American anti-rocket and anti-mortar systems on the installation that "are pretty effective" at stopping such attacks. McKenzie also said the threat of a vehicle-borne suicide attack "is high right now" and a walk-up suicide attack remains a threat as well.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin tweeted a statement expressing his "condolences to the loved ones and teammates of all those killed and wounded in Kabul today."
On behalf of the men and women of the @deptofdefense, I express my deepest condolences to the loved ones and teammates of all those killed and wounded in Kabul today. Full statement below: pic.twitter.com/GqwuJBKAAF
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) August 26, 2021
Following McKenzie's briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby refused to take any additional questions from reporters.