Biden vows to continue evacuations, hunt down IS-K leadership following deadly attacks outside Kabul airport

US President Biden has vowed to continue evacuating at-risk Afghan civilians and US Embassy staff from Afghanistan following the deadly attacks that took place outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on 26 August, which claimed the lives of at least 72 Afghan civilians and 13 US military personnel.

“I've been in constant contact with our senior military leaders. ... They made it clear that we can and we must complete this mission, and we will. And that's what have I ordered them to do. We will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation,” said Biden in a speech at the White House the same day.

The US president's remarks come after the Pentagon stated that two suicide bombers along with gunmen from the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K or ISIS-K) militant group attacked crowds of Afghans that had gathered near the Abbey Gate entrance to the airport and at the Baron Hotel, as the United States and other countries increase efforts to evacuate as many people as possible before 31 August: the date set by Washington for the end of the US military mission in the Central Asian country.

Smoke rises in Kabul on 26 August following attacks by IS-K suicide bombers and gunmen outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, the centre of evacuation efforts from Afghanistan, that killed at least 72 civilians and 13 US military personnel. (Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)