Biden news: Psaki shuts down GOP impeachment threat as Israel PM extends ‘condolences and deep sadness’
White House and Pentagon provide updates on response to Kabul attack as hundreds continue to be evacuated from Afghanistan
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Your support makes all the difference.Following a suicide bombing at Kabul airport that left 13 American service members dead and 18 wounded, among dozens of others killed, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett extended “condolences and deep sadness for the loss of American lives” during a meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday.
After pledging to “hunt down” those responsible for the attack, the president was briefed by military officials on Friday on the likelihood of “another terror attack” and the “maximum force protection measures” underway at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Military officials also updated the president and vice president “on plans to develop Isis-K targets,” according to statement from White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
“The next few days of this mission will be the most dangerous period to date,” the statement said.
Injured US service members have been transported to the US Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
One Afghan family’s astonishing escape from Kabul to a new life in America
Psaki swats down impeachment chatter and GOP backlash on Kabul: ‘Now is not the time for politics’
Tributes paid to US Navy sailor killed in Kabul attack: ‘He was helping to save lives’
Two House Republicans introduce articles of impeachment against Secretary of State Blinken
Pentagon admits ‘thousands’ of Isis-K militants released from US prisons by Taliban
Isis-K, a sworn enemy of the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Ms Psaki told reporters on Friday that the president has made clear “that he does not want them to live on earth anymore.”
A number of Republican lawmakers have called on the president to resign over the ongoing crisis. GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy said there will be “day of reckoning.”
Ms Psaki dismissed calls from GOP lawmakers, adding that “the backdrop” of their calls “is the men and women of the US military deployed on the ground are bravely continuing to implement a mission to save lives on the ground.”
“Yesterday they lost 13 of their own and the president made absolutely clear that we’re going to hunt down, go after and kill the terrorists who are responsible,” she said. “Everyone should be supportive of that.”
US military officials have stressed that the attack has not stopped evacuations, which will continue until the end of the month as planned. US forces have evacuated roughly 12,500 people over a 24-hour period into early Friday morning, according to the White House. Since the end of July, the US has relocated approximately 110,600 people, the White House said on Friday.
Follow live updates as they happenened
Foreign forces aiming to evacuate citizens, embassy staff by 30 August
A NATO official has told Reuters that all foreign forces are now aiming to evacuate their citizens and embassy employees from Afghanistan by 30 August.
“Taliban leaders should investigate the Islamic State network in Kabul, they allowed thousands of prisoners to walk out of jails in recent weeks, security is their responsibility,” said the unidentified NATO senior official.
At least 13 US service members were killed in the Kabul airport attack on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Rep. Barry Loudermilk tweeted that “Joe Biden has lost the trust of the American people, and shown he’s not fit to serve as President & Commander-in-Chief. For the future of our nation, our freedom, and our future, it is time for him to resign.”
US braces for more ISIS attacks after the carnage at Kabul airport
The head of the US Central Command, General Frank McKenzie, said “commanders were on alert for more attacks by Islamic State,” including possibly rockets or vehicle-borne bombs targeting the airport, Reuters reported.
“We’re doing everything we can to be prepared,” he said. He added that some intelligence was being shared with the Taliban and that he believed “some attacks have been thwarted by them.”
Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden on Thursday ordered the Pentagon to plan how to strike the ISIS-K, the Islamic State affiliate that claimed responsibility for Kabul attacks.
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he said.
Nancy Pelosi asks lawmakers not to travel to Afghanistan
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday asked members of Congress to not visit Afghanistan or any of the neighbouring countries after 60 Afghan civilians and at least 12 US service members were killed in the Kabul airport attacks.
Ms Pelosi, in a letter to the lawmakers, said the Department of Defense and the State Department have “explicitly stated” such trips would “unnecessarily divert needed resources” from evacuating Americans and Afghan allies.
The California Democrat’s letter came a few days after two congressmen — Representatives Peter Meijer and Seth Moulton — “secretly” travelled to Kabul.
She also said she and other congressional leaders were briefed by defense secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday and that Congress “remains deeply concerned about the security and humanitarian situation.”
Australia and New Zealand end Kabul evacuation missions
A day after the deadly Kabul attacks, Australia and New Zealand announced they are ending their evacuation operations from Afghanistan.
“We strongly condemn what is a despicable attack on many innocent families and individuals who were simply seeking safety from the incredibly difficult and fragile situation in Afghanistan,” said New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern.
There would be no more evacuation flights from Kabul, she added.
Australian defense minister Peter Dutton also confirmed Australia has ended its own Afghanistan evacuation mission.
Kamala Harris pays tribute to US service members killed in the Kabul attacks
US vice president Kamala Harris termed the 13 US “courageous service members” who died in the deadly Kabul attacks on Thursday as “heroes.”
In a series of tweets, Ms Harris said: “Doug [Emhoff, her husband] and I grieve for the Americans we lost, we pray for the Americans injured in the attack, and our hearts go out to their loved ones. We also grieve for the Afghan civilians killed and injured.”
“Our country is grateful to our women and men in uniform, and in particular, those working today to get Americans and our Afghan partners out of harm’s way. We will complete that mission. Today, we honor those who gave their lives in service to their nation. We will never forget,” she added.
UK entering final stages of evacuation efforts in Kabul, defence ministry says
British forces are entering the final stages of evacuation efforts at Kabul airport, with processing facilities closed, the UK’s defence ministry has said.
The department said on Friday morning that efforts would now be focused on evacuating British nationals and others who have already been cleared to leave and are already at the airport.
It added that no further people would be called forward to the airport for evacuation.
“It is with deep regret that not everyone has been able to be evacuated during this process,” defence minister Ben Wallace said in a statement.
The UK has so far evacuated more than 13,700 British nationals and Afghans, representing the second biggest airlift by the country's air force after the Berlin Airlift in 1949, according to the ministry.
ICYMI: Biden vows to ‘hunt down’ terrorists over 13 Americans killed in Kabul
US president Joe Biden has vowed to avenge the 13 American service members killed in suicide bomb attacks in Kabul this week, warning that he will “hunt down” those responsible.
“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,” Mr Biden said.
Our reporter, Eric Garcia, has the full story below:
Biden vows to avenge 13 Americans killed in Kabul: ‘We will hunt you down’
The president invoked the death of his son in his condolences to the families
Senior Republicans call for Biden to resign over Afghanistan crisis
Senior Republicans have called for Joe Biden to resign over the ongoing chaos in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
On Thursday, Nikki Haley, a former US ambassador to the UN under Donald Trump, suggested that Mr Biden should “step down or be removed” over the crisis, while Republican senator Marsha Blackburn claimed that both the president and VP Kamala Harris should resign.
Earlier this week, Republican senator Lindsey Graham argued that Mr Biden should be impeached over the withdrawal, which he said had led to thousands of Afghans who assisted the US being “abandoned”.
Analysis: The day Biden’s vow to end America’s longest war turned into a deadly debacle
The terror attacks in Kabul on Thursday have left Joe Biden scrambling to get a grip on the chaos unfolding in Afghanistan, undermining his promise of a measured and responsible withdrawal of US troops, according to our chief US correspondent Andrew Buncombe.
Andrew writes:
“Once again a US president is scrambled to the White House situation room, trying to get a grip on the chaos unfolding, even as the Pentagon admits it is bracing for further attacks. And Joe Biden, adamant no more US lives be lost in Afghanistan during his watch, must be watching on in horror as fresh American blood is spilled.”
You can find his full piece below:
The day Joe Biden’s vow to end America’s longest war turned into a deadly debacle
Analysis: No plan survives first contact with the enemy, but the US president must respond to ground reality, says Andrew Buncombe
Biden to hold talks with Israel’s PM on Iran
Joe Biden is scheduled to host Israeli PM Naftali Bennett at the White House today to discuss Iran, among other issues, after being forced to postpone the face-to-face meeting due to the suicide bombings in Kabul on Thursday.
In a statement early this morning, Mr Bennett's office said Mr Biden called the Israeli PM and “thanked [him] for his understanding of the change in time of their meeting, in light of the events in Afghanistan”.
Mr Bennett expressed his deepest condolences over the attacks and said Israel shared with the US in its sorrow, the statement added.
The meeting, which is the first since the two men took office, is aimed at resetting the tone of US-Israeli relations and finding common ground on Iran despite differences on how to deal with its nuclear programme.
Mr Bennett, a far-right politician who ended Mr Netanyahu's 12-year run as prime minister in June, is expected to press the US president to harden his approach to Iran and halt negotiations aimed at reviving an international nuclear deal with Tehran that Donald Trump abandoned.
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