Two ISIS suicide bombers killed 13 US troops and 90 Afghans: Pentagon vows to hunt down terrorists and continue shambolic evacuation - but warns 'we expect these attacks to continue'

The US is vowing to continue its Afghanistan evacuation mission despite ISIS-K killing 13 troops on Thursday in a double bombing at Kabul airport, and has vowed to hunt down the terrorists responsible for the attack.

President Biden addressed the nation at 5.30pm - nearly eight hours after two suicide attacks at Kabul airport on Thursday - as criticism of his response to the crisis grew and furious Republicans called for him to be impeached or resign.

There has been no White House statement in the six hours since the horrifying events unfolded and all of Biden's events were cancelled or postponed.

The 13 troops include 11 Marines, one Navy medic and at least 90 Afghans were killed on Thursday when the two bombs went off as the remaining Westerners in Kabul tried to get out.

The first bomber at the Abbey Gate of the airport was wearing a vest and was being searched by troops when he detonated. The second was a car bomb attack at the Baron Hotel. It's unclear how the first bomber got through Taliban checkpoints and close enough to the Marines to kill them.

On Thursday, General Kenneth F. McKenzie, the commander on the ground, vowed that the dangerous evacuation effort would continue despite the growing threat from ISIS and said he will 'go after' those responsible for the deadly blast.

He said the US military has Apache attack helicopters, MQ-9 Reaper drones, F-15 fighters and AC-130 Gunships flying over Afghanistan and warned further attacks by the terrorists are imminent.

'We expect these attacks to continue,' General McKenzie said, saying he was particularly worried about another car bomb attack that could claim more troops' lives.

Despite the danger, he said there was no alternative but to have troops continue to search people on the ground before they board flights, and that more than 100,000 had already been checked.

One thousand Americans remain in Afghanistan but McKenzie says not all of them want to leave. He says the troops on the ground will work to get those who do want to leave out, but that is becoming an increasingly unmanageable task given the risk to troops and fast-approaching Taliban deadline to get out.

There are now growing calls from Republicans including Nikki Haley, former US ambassador to the UN, for Biden to resign or be impeached because of how he has handled the withdrawal.

Neither he nor his Defense Secretary, Secretary of State or Pentagon spokesman made a statement on Thursday after the attacks aside from tweeting their condolences for the families of the soldiers lost.

H.R McMaster, Trump's national security adviser, said Thursday's attack was 'just the beginning.'

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

A man injured in the Kabul terrorists attacks on Thursday arrives at hospital to be treated. Among those killed in the two bomb attacks were 13 US troops, including 11 US Marines and one Navy medic

Medical staff bring an injured man to a hospital in an ambulance after two powerful explosions, which killed at least six people, outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021

Horrifying footage from Kabul airport shows dozens of Afghans lying in blood after two ISIS suicide bombers attacked crowds who were hoping to flee the Taliban

In this frame grab from video, people attend to a wounded man near the site of a deadly explosion outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021

The blast was outside The Baron Hotel, at the Abbey Gate of Kabul airport. Westerners were staying in the hotel before their evacuation flights

ISIS K- THE CHILLING NEW FACE OF TERROR IN AFGHANSTAN

ISIS-K is one of six or seven regional offshoots of the Islamic State - the K stands for the Khorasan region, which historically encompasses parts of modern day Iran, Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

ISIS-K was begun in 2014, as a splinter group from the Pakistani Taliban, and its original leaders were from Pakistan.

Founded in 2015, its followers aim to establish an Islamic caliphate across Khorasan (hence the initial 'K') – a historic region covering Pakistan and Afghanistan along with parts of Central Asia

In 2015 it was recognized by ISIS's leaders in Iraq and Syria, and in January 2016 declared a terrorist organization by the State Department.

Its strongholds are eastern Afghanistan, straddling the border with Pakistan in Nangarhar province, and the north of Afghanistan.

In 2018 the group was weakened in the north of Afghanistan, and in 2019 severely beaten back in the east. But in 2020 they regrouped and launched a series of devastating terror attacks.

Founded in 2015, its followers aim to establish an Islamic caliphate across Khorasan (hence the initial 'K') – a historic region covering Pakistan and Afghanistan along with parts of Central Asia.

The terror group is now such a threat that fear of an attack by Isis-K is being used to justify the US's refusal to delay its withdrawal from Kabul Airport after the August 31 deadline set by Joe Biden.

More recently, in May this year, ISIS-K killed at least 68 Afghans and injured another 165 when they detonated three car bombs outside the Syed Al-Shahda school for girls in Kabul.

The vast majority of the victims were young pupils the Islamist group regard as legitimate targets for the sin of being educated while being female.

The attack, which came after a period in which Western air strikes had killed thousands of the terror network's supporters and at least three of its leaders, served as a bloody reminder of its ongoing ability to bring carnage to the streets of Afghanistan.

Before the blasts on Thursday, the Pentagon denied claims that the US was going to withdraw within 36 hours.

Press Secretary John Kirby offered no date for when troops would leave, saying only they would stay in Afghanistan until the 'end of the mission'.

It offers little hope to the Americans on the ground who are stuck behind Taliban lines, unable to get to the airport.

Overnight, 5,100 people were flown out of Kabul on US military planes. Another 8,300 were saved by coalition flights.

The total - 13,400 - was drastically less than the 19,000 rescued in the previous 24 hours.

Now, the flights that were already leaving half-empty, will

Ross Wilson, the Acting US Ambassador in Afghanistan, said on Thursday his office was making 'phone calls' but that many Americans didn't leave when they had the chance and are now on their own.

'We have through the State Department been placing phone calls to virtually all those who have registered with us to find out are they still in Afghanistan, are they interested in leaving Afghanistan, do they need help.

'People chose not to leave - that's their business, that's their right. We regret now that many may find themselves in a position that they would rather not be in,' he told CBS This Morning on Thursday.

Britain is now telling its citizens that anyone who hasn't yet been able to get out should make a run for the border and seek refuge in Pakistan.

Hameed Ullah, the head of the Coronavirus Health team at the Chaman border, said 18,000 people a day were crossing into Pakistan from Afghanistan - 6,000 more than usual.

Biden has promised to get every American out by August 31 but it is becoming increasingly unlikely with hundreds still scattered around the country. He is due to host a conference call with governors on Thursday at 3pm to determine where Afghan refugees will be housed.

CNN's source said on Thursday that 200 had been evacuated overnight, bringing the total 500 down significantly.

The source estimated that of the 500 Blinken was talking about, there are now only 150 waiting to be evacuated.

It remains unclear if any more citizens have been able to get in touch with the State Department since Blinken spoke.

There are still 1,800 Afghans who worked at the US Embassy in Kabul and are waiting to be flown out but the mission is winding down on Friday, the source said.

'American citizens are still trickling in but their priority has shifted to local staff,' the source said.

The United States, Britain and Australia told their citizens in the early hours of Thursday to clear the airport over fears of a deadly car bomb blast.

The US said that citizens outside three gates in particular should 'leave immediately', while Britain and Australia told anyone near the airport to clear the area entirely.

Among those still stranded are dozens of students from a San Diego school, who flew to Afghanistan with relatives to visit family and got stuck.

They did not all travel together but went with their families in smaller groups. One of the groups has now returned to the US, leaving 19 still stuck in Kabul.

The bomb threat on Wednesday was given amid fears extremist group ISIS-K, the Islamic State branch based in Afghanistan, was plotting an attack with multiple car bombs by deploying recently-freed prisoners.

'We won't get everyone out even by Sept 11': Democrat and Republican lawmakers pay secret trip to Kabul

Two US military vets who now serve as congressmen flew unannounced into Afghanistan to monitor the on going evacuation efforts as they called on President Joe Biden to extend the US withdrawal deadline past August 31.

Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Rep. Peter Meijer, a Republican from Michigan, flew in and out of Kabul airport on Tuesday, with both men adding that they boarded return flights with empty seats so as not to take away space from fleeing Americans and Afghans.

They appeared to condemn Joe Biden over his chaotic withdrawal from the war-torn country, and predicted the US would not be able to airlift everyone eligible to leave Afghanistan on time.

In a joint statement, they said: 'It's obvious that because we started the evacuation so late, that no matter what we do, we won't get everyone out on time, even by September 11.

'Sadly and frustratingly, getting our people out depends on maintaining the current, bizarre relationship with the Taliban.'

The order to leave the gates was issued at 3:30am local time in Kabul on Thursday morning.

It came as a 345-seat evacuation flight organized by a Washington DC-based philanthropist left Kabul Airport almost empty because its intended passengers could not get past the Taliban.

The jet - laid on by George Abi-Habib, co-founder of development firm Sayara International, had just 50 of passengers in its cabin, amid fears terrorists are now plotting a car bomb attack against Kabul's Hamid Karzai Airport.

One of the passengers had to crawl through a sewage pipe just to make it into the airport, he told The Wall Street Journal.

'We can't expect everyone to crawl through a sewer pipe to safety,' Abi-Habib said.

Another of Abi-Habib's 240-seat charter flights heading to Ukraine left with 70 seats empty after U.S. soldiers wouldn't let passengers through to board the aircraft.

'It's total chaos,' said Warren Binford, a law professor at the University of Colorado who has been working on evacuation efforts.

'What's happening is that we're seeing a massive underground railroad operation where, instead of running for decades, it's literally running for a matter of hours, or days.'

Thousands of people are still trying to leave Afghanistan as U.S. troops start leaving and evacuation flights begin to wrap up, but are being stopped and beaten by insurgents on their way.

Among those left are 23 school children from California Cajon Valley Union School District and 16 parents who visited the war zone on a summer trip to see extended family and haven't been able to leave.

Erik Prince, founder of controversial private military firm Blackwater, was selling seats on a plane out of Afghanistan for $6,500.

The desperation to get on the last flights is already plain, with people standing in sewage up to their knees on the south side of the airport today while begging soldiers to let them inside.

Many Afghans fear a repeat of the brutal five-year Taliban regime that was toppled in 2001, and violent retribution for working with foreign militaries, Western missions and the previous U.S.-backed government.

Washington and its allies have been flying out thousands of such Afghans every day on hulking military transports, but it has become an increasingly difficult and desperate task.

Speaking on Tuesday, Biden confirmed that in the past 12 hours, 19 U.S. military flights evacuated approximately 6,400 people and 31 coalition flights carrying 5,600 people have left Kabul.

A White House official told CNN yesterday that the number of Americans remaining in Afghanistan as of August 14 was 'probably lower than most people believe', but declined to confirm exactly how many remain in the country.

Though officials believe that thousands of Americans and their Allies remain in the Afghan capital, the New York Times reports.

The Afghan capital's airport has been gripped by chaos as US-led troops try to maintain a secure perimeter for evacuation flights, surrounded by desperate Afghans.

Some have foreign passports, visas or eligibility to travel, but most do not. At least eight people have died in the chaos.

'Does anyone ... ANYONE ... have a contact inside the airport,' pleaded one American on a WhatsApp group set up to share information on how people can access the airport.

'My guy worked for us 2010-15 and needs to get out with 5 of his family. This is real bad.'

The Taliban have also been accused of blocking or slowing access for many trying to reach the airport, although they denied the charge again late Tuesday.

Biden said the Taliban were taking steps to assist, but there was also an 'acute and growing risk' of an attack by the regional chapter of the Islamic State jihadist group.

Speaking yesterday, the President said he had asked the Pentagon and the State Department to develop contingency plans to push past the deadline should that prove necessary.

The Democratic president, whose administration has been under fire for its handling of the pullout, said U.S. forces had now helped evacuate 87,900 people since Aug. 14.

Afghanistan's chilling new face of terror: 'ISIS-K' slaughter patients in their hospital beds, bomb girls schools... and see the Taliban as far too liberal. Their latest victory? Joe Biden is running scared of them, writes GUY ADAMS

Dressed in white coats and carrying stethoscopes, three young men walked unchallenged into Kabul's 400-bed Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan hospital and made their way to the upper floors.

Then, outside the building, situated opposite the heavily fortified US Embassy, there was a loud bang.

The noise, from the detonating suicide vest of a comrade, acted as a signal for the trio to pull a selection of hand grenades and AK-47 assault rifles from beneath their medical clothing, before opening fire.

By the time the chaos had died down, several hours later, more than 30 doctors and patients had been killed and roughly 50 more wounded.

Further casualties included the three attackers, who were shot by Afghan special forces, plus the original suicide bomber, and a fifth member of the terror gang who had detonated a car bomb inside the hospital complex.

A former Pakistani Taliban commander called Hafiz Saeed Khan led ISIS-K until he was killed by a drone strike in 2016

Founded in 2015, its followers aim to establish an Islamic caliphate across Khorasan (hence the initial 'K') – a historic region covering Pakistan and Afghanistan along with parts of Central Asia

Their brazen and pitiless attack, which unfolded in broad daylight one afternoon in March 2017, was carried out in the name of ISIS-K, a local branch of the notorious global terror network.

Founded in 2015, its followers aim to establish an Islamic caliphate across Khorasan (hence the initial 'K') – a historic region covering Pakistan and Afghanistan along with parts of Central Asia.

In a statement released on Tuesday night, the US President claimed: 'Every day we're on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both US and allied forces and innocent civilians.'

The White House seems to believe ISIS-K (who regard the Taliban as dangerous liberals) is about to organise a wave of attacks in an effort to destabilise its efforts to form a government.

If so, then any foreign troops, including soldiers from Britain's 16 Air Assault Brigade currently guarding Kabul airport, would represent very high-profile targets indeed.

The organisation has already carried out roughly 100 attacks against civilian targets and another 250 involving US, Afghan or Pakistani security services, most of them chronicled via macabre mobile phone videos then gleefully broadcast via the internet.

One particularly vile film, circulated in June 2017, celebrated the work of a group of child recruits to ISIS-K known as the 'cubs of the caliphates'.

The film showed two of them – both dressed in black and seemingly under 12 years of age – forcing terrified captives to kneel on the ground.

They proceeded to pull back the heads of the men (who were apparently accused of spying), rant at the camera and execute them via a single shot to the skull.

ISIS-K published this photo in an effort to project unity and strength just days before hundreds of fighters admitted defeat and surrendered

More recently, in May this year, ISIS-K killed at least 68 Afghans and injured another 165 when they detonated three car bombs outside the Syed Al-Shahda school for girls in Kabul.

The vast majority of the victims were young pupils the Islamist group regard as legitimate targets for the sin of being educated while being female.

The very fact that a US President is admitting that his policy is being governed by a perceived threat from ISIS-K represents a major coup for a hitherto fairly low-profile organisation.

It first made headlines in January 2016, when the Pentagon announced that the group had been designated as a Foreign Terrorist organisation.

This made assisting them a criminal offence and allowed US troops on the ground to actively pursue members (under previous terms of engagement they usually had to wait until the group attacked them before responding)

The organisation's chosen first Emir, or leader, was a former Pakistani Taliban commander called Hafiz Saeed Khan.

His foot-soldiers were largely people who had defected from the Taliban as was his canny PR chief, Sheikh Maqbool, who was charged with ensuring that the group's grisly attacks gained worldwide attention.

They were appointed at the behest of ISIS's top dog Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was facing difficulties in his stomping grounds of Syria and Iraq, so began funnelling cash to Khan in order to establish a new stronghold in the East.

Initially, their activities were limited to suicide bombings and small arms attacks targeting civilians, along with the odd kidnapping, but that was enough to prompt close attention from the US, who succeeded in killing Khan via a drone strike in July 2016.

His successor Abdul Hasib masterminded the hospital attack mentioned above, and was famed for both ordering fighters to behead local elders in front of their families, and to kidnap women and girls so they could be forced to 'marry' his fighters, that is, become sex slaves.

He perished in a special forces raid on his compound in which two US troops died in April 2017.

Later that month, the US dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb in its arsenal – a GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast also known as the 'Mother Of All Bombs' – on a key ISIS-K cave and tunnel system in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province. Around 100 of their troops perished.

A series of drone strikes then wiped out both of Hasib's successors, Abu Sayed and Abu Saad Orakzai, and roughly 80 per cent of the group's troops, reducing their estimated strength from between three and four thousand to under 800 followers by the end of 2018.

Yet like so many militant groups in the benighted history of Afghanistan, they have since proved almost impossible to eliminate completely.

The deaths of successive leaders have ended up being largely symbolic, since they have been quickly replaced by experienced peers shipped in from other ISIS strongholds.

New foot-soldiers have been recruited via slick propaganda videos outlining its global aspirations to create an Islamist caliphate across Asia, governed by Sharia law, before eventually ' the banner of al-Uqab above Jerusalem and the White House.

This ambition equates to the defeat of both Israel and the United States (and therefore the imposition of their twisted view of life on those countries).

The group's current leader is believed to be Shahab al-Muhajir, also known as Sanaullah.

A United Nations report published in February said that he took over in June 2020.

The communiqué announcing the appointment, written in Arabic and translated into Pashto, referred to al-Muhajir as an experienced military leader and one of the 'urban lions' of ISIL-K in Kabul who had been 'involved in guerrilla operations and the planning of suicide and complex attacks.'

While Sanaullah's reign may be bad news for Afghans, he's currently thought to have little to no capacity for mounting terror attacks in the West.

He is instead focusing on a mission to rid Afghanistan and other parts of its home territory of foreign 'crusaders' who 'proselytize Muslims' as well as 'apostates'.

That in turn may explain why America is so anxious to withdraw from Kabul: once US troops are home, they are no longer in his organisation's firing line.

For the Afghans left behind, escaping ISIS-K's reign of terror will not be nearly so simple.

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