The U.S. military shot down rockets fired at the Hamid Karzai International airport early Monday as the clock winds down on the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.
President Biden was briefed about the attempted rocket attack against the airport, the White House said Monday.
“The president was informed that operations continue uninterrupted at [the airport] and has reconfirmed his order that commanders redouble their efforts to prioritize doing whatever is necessary to protect our forces on the ground,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
In a statement at 12:36 a.m. @PressSec said @JakeSullivan46 and @WHCOS had briefed Biden on the rocket attack at Kabul airport. Psaki: “The President was informed that operations continue uninterrupted at HKIA,” and he reconfirmed his order to protect US forces on the ground. https://t.co/9NhSnDXrzH
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) August 30, 2021
A U.S. official said the rockets aimed at the airport were brought down by a counter-rocket system, and that there were no initial reports of casualties. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the rockets. The airport remained open, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational details.
Around 1,200 people were airlifted from Kabul in the previous 24 hours, the White House said early on Monday morning. (The New York Times)
The move came after a U.S. drone strike on Sunday that targeted a vehicle in Kabul that was packed with explosives and headed toward the airport. U.S. Central Command responded on Sunday to reports that a family, including six children, were killed.
“We are still assessing the results of this strike, which we know disrupted an imminent ISIS-K threat to the airport. We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties," CENTCOM said in a statement.
“It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further,” the CENTCOM statement continued. “We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life.”