Rocket strikes near Kabul airport, killing child
A rocket struck a neighborhood just northwest of Kabul's international airport Sunday as the US evacuation there winds down following the Taliban's lightning takeover of the country, killing a child, an Afghan police chief said.
The attack comes as the United States winds down a historic airlift that saw tens of thousands evacuated from Kabul's international airport, the scene of much of the chaos that engulfed the Afghan capital since the Taliban took over two weeks ago, according to Euronews.
After a Daesh (so-called IS) affiliate's suicide attack that killed over 180 people, the Taliban increased its security around the airfield as Britain ended its evacuation flights Saturday.
Early reports suggest at least two people have been killed and three injured in the attack, according to Afghan news agency Asvaka.
A security official from the recently deposed government told AFP it was a rocket that “initial information shows hit a house.”
Images and video from the area show dark smoke billowing from a house or compound in a mainly residential area.
A security official from the recently deposed government told AFP it was a rocket that “initial information shows hit a house.”
Evacuations from Afghanistan continue to decrease as the US drawdown from the country continues ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline for removing all US personnel from Afghanistan.
The White House announced Sunday morning that approximately 2,900 people were evacuated from Kabul from 3 a.m. ET Saturday to 3 a.m. ET Sunday.
Those evacuations were carried out by 32 US military flights, which carried approximately 2,200 evacuees and nine coalition flights, which carried 700 people.
Approximately 6,800 people were evacuated from Kabul over the same stretch of time from Friday into Saturday.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed Saturday that US troops have begun retrograde withdrawal from the airport in Kabul and White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said that the slowing evacuation numbers would coincide with the retrograde process.
“What it will also mean, as they move to this retrograde phase, is that there will be a reduction of numbers over the next couple of days,” Psaki said at Friday’s White House briefing.
After a Daesh (so-called IS) affiliate's suicide attack that killed over 180 people, the Taliban increased its security around the airfield as Britain ended its evacuation flights Saturday.
Early reports suggest at least two people have been killed and three injured in the attack, according to Afghan news agency Asvaka.
A security official from the recently deposed government told AFP it was a rocket that “initial information shows hit a house.”
Images and video from the area show dark smoke billowing from a house or compound in a mainly residential area.
A security official from the recently deposed government told AFP it was a rocket that “initial information shows hit a house.”
Evacuations from Afghanistan continue to decrease as the US drawdown from the country continues ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline for removing all US personnel from Afghanistan.
The White House announced Sunday morning that approximately 2,900 people were evacuated from Kabul from 3 a.m. ET Saturday to 3 a.m. ET Sunday.
Those evacuations were carried out by 32 US military flights, which carried approximately 2,200 evacuees and nine coalition flights, which carried 700 people.
Approximately 6,800 people were evacuated from Kabul over the same stretch of time from Friday into Saturday.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed Saturday that US troops have begun retrograde withdrawal from the airport in Kabul and White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said that the slowing evacuation numbers would coincide with the retrograde process.
“What it will also mean, as they move to this retrograde phase, is that there will be a reduction of numbers over the next couple of days,” Psaki said at Friday’s White House briefing.