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
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. 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
US braces for more attacks after 85 people killed at Kabul airport
US commanders are on high alert for more deadly attacks in Afghanistan, including those involving rockets and vehicle-borne explosives, following Thursday’s double-strike blast and gunfire outside Kabul airport that killed 85 people.
General Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, said on Thursday that officials were doing “everything we can to be prepared” as he confirmed that more attacks were expected.
Our reporter, Arpan Rai, has the full story below:
US braces for more attacks after Isis bomber kills 85 people outside Kabul airport
General Frank McKenzie has warned about more possible attacks in Kabul
At least 95 Afghans killed in Kabul suicide bombings, official says
At least 95 Afghans have been killed in Thursday’s suicide bombings outside Kabul’s international airport, a source has told the Associated Press.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said that the actual death toll would be even higher because others were involved in evacuating bodies.
Afghan and US officials earlier said the bombings had killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 US troops, in the deadliest day for US forces in Afghanistan since August 2011.
Biden has taken ‘morally reprehensible’ actions in Afghanistan, former official says
Joe Biden has taken “morally reprehensible” actions in Afghanistan over the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from the country, according to a former US defence official.
David Sedney, the former deputy assistant secretary of defence for Afghanistan, told Sky News on Friday that US forces had been put into a “bad position” by Mr Biden, as the crisis in Kabul has worsened.
“I think that President Biden has taken morally reprehensible and inhumane actions, and it’s affected a lot more than American military personnel, it has affected the lives of millions of Afghans as well,” Mr Sedney said.
You can find his comments in full below:
US military aircraft flies 400 evacuees to navy base in Spain
A US military aircraft has flown around 400 people evacuated from Afghanistan to the navy base of Rota in southern Spain - the first group of up to 4,000 people expected to arrive there.
The US embassy in Spain said that the flight landed at 9:40am local time on Friday, with US officials, American and Spanish soldiers, Red Cross workers and base volunteers in charge of processing arrivals.
The Rota navy base and the nearby air force base of Moron have been overhauled in recent days to welcome the evacuees.
A bilateral agreement signed last week between the governments of Spain and the US is allowing the evacuation to the two bases of up to 4,000 people while they are being cleared for continuing their trips to the US.
The Spanish government has put a 15-day cap for the Afghans' stay in the bases.
Afghanistan crisis is result of ‘very unwise’ decision by White House, senior Tory says
The crisis in Afghanistan is the result of a “very unwise” political decision by the Biden administration but does not represent a military defeat, a senior Tory MP has said.
Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told Sky News on Friday that the chaos unfolding in the country was “exceptionally painful” to see, as he paid tribute to the military personnel that had served in Kabul.
“Let’s not say that they were defeated, they weren’t, this is a political decision,” Mr Tugendhat said.
“It’s a decision very unwisely made in the White House and it is one that we will all pay for. But it is not a military defeat.”
You can find his comments in full below:
Kabul attacks ‘worst day’ for Biden so far, former defence secretary says
The attacks at Kabul airport on Thursday that killed 13 American troops and dozens of Afghans will be remembered as the “worst day” of Joe Biden’s administration so far, according to a former US defence secretary.
Leon Panetta, who served in Barack Obama’s administration, outlined the multiple threats facing US military personnel in Afghanistan on Friday following the attacks.
“This is a dangerous and difficult situation, and there’s no question that it is probably Joe Biden’s worst nightmare to lose 13 marines as a result of what’s happened here,” Mr Panetta told CNN.
“This has got to be the worst day of his administration.”
You can find his comments in full below:
China condemns Kabul attacks, says it will work to prevent terrorism
China has condemned the attacks on Kabul airport this week and said it is ready to work with the international community to “prevent Afghanistan from becoming a source of terrorism again”.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Friday that no Chinese people had been killed or injured in the attacks as he advised Chinese citizens in Afghanistan to “strengthen security precautions”.
“Meanwhile, we have requested the relevant parties to take measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel,” Mr Zhao told reporters at a daily briefing.
China has kept its embassy in Kabul open and recently hosted talks between the Taliban and its ambassador.
“The head of the Afghan Taliban has made it clear to China that he will never allow any forces to use Afghan territory to do things detrimental to China,” Mr Zhao added.
“We hope that the relevant parties will take effective measures to ensure a smooth transition of the situation in Afghanistan and the personal safety of the Afghan people and foreign citizens there.”
ICYMI: Biden in tense exchange with Fox News reporter after Kabul statement
Joe Biden concluded his news conference on the Kabul airport attacks on Thursday by getting into a tense exchange with Fox News’ Peter Doocy, who suggested that the US president was squarely to blame for the chaos in Afghanistan.
Mr Biden argued that attacks on US personnel had merely ceased last year due to a promise by then-president Donald Trump to leave the country by 1 May.
Our reporter, John Bowden, has the full story below:
Biden puts head in his hands during tense exchange with Fox reporter
Exchange occurred after president called Peter Doocy ‘most interesting’ man in media
‘There is going to be a reckoning’: GOP split over how to hit Biden on Afghanistan
The Republican Party is split over how to respond to Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan after some members of the party called for the president to resign, according to a report.
CNN reports that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthey has pushed back against some members of his party by arguing that it is counterproductive to call for Mr Biden’s immediate resignation while Americans are still being evacuated from the country.
“Promise you, there is going to be a reckoning,” Mr McCarthy reportedly told members on a GOP conference call.
“We are going to hold every single person accountable.”
Republicans are apparently wary of looking opportunistic by using the crisis too quickly for political gain, but they are eager to make sure it is remembered as a key moment of Mr Biden’s presidency.
Trump suggests Osama bin Laden was not ‘a monster’
Donald Trump has suggested that Osama bin Laden was not a “monster” and only “had one hit” in an interview ahead of the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 terror attack.
The former US president told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday that Isis is “tougher” and “nastier” than the Taliban as he boasted about US military operations during his time in office.
Our reporter, Alisha Rahaman Sarkar, has the full story below:
Trump suggests Laden wasn’t ‘a monster’ and had ‘only one hit’ in new interview
Trump boasts in an interview Laden wasn’t the ‘nastier’ terrorists his administration had taken out
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments