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People living near the airport heard the sound of the missile defense system being activated.
On Monday, as the United States raced to complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan, rockets flew over the Afghan capital and almost all civilians were evacuated. The fear of terrorist attacks was also high.
President Joe Biden has set the deadline for all U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan on Tuesday, ending the country’s longest military conflict, which began in retaliation for the September 11 attacks.
The return of the Taliban movement, which was overthrown in 2001 but returned to power two weeks ago, triggered the outflow of terrified people on the US-led evacuation flight.
These flights carrying more than 114,000 people from Kabul Airport will officially end on Tuesday, when the last of the thousands of US troops will be evacuated.
But the U.S. military is now mainly focused on getting itself and U.S. diplomats to take off safely.
Late last week, Taliban rival Da’esh launched a suicide bomb attack at the airport, killing more than 100 people, including 13 US troops, posing the greatest threat to the withdrawal.
Biden has warned that more attacks are likely to occur, and the United States said it carried out an air strike on a vehicle full of explosives in Kabul on Sunday night.
According to the AFP reporter in Kabul, the sound of a rocket flying over Kabul on Monday morning was followed.
People living near the airport said they heard the sound of the missile defense system being activated.
Thick smoke can be seen near the airport.
A Taliban spokesperson confirmed Sunday’s incident, saying that a car bomb destined for the airport had been destroyed and a nearby house might have been attacked a second time.
The United States has been accused of killing many civilians in air strikes throughout the war. This is one reason for the loss of local support, which became possible again on Sunday.
US Central Command spokesman Captain Bill Urban said in a statement: “We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following an attack on a car in Kabul today.”
Urban said that the US military is investigating whether civilians were killed, and pointed out that the destruction of the vehicle caused a “strong” explosion.
He said: “We will be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent lives.”
In recent years, the Afghanistan-Pakistan chapter of the Islamic State has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in these countries.
They massacred civilians in mosques, public squares, schools and even hospitals.
The suicide bombing at the airport last week led to the worst single-day death toll of the US military in Afghanistan since 2011.
The threat of the Islamic State forced the US military and the Taliban to cooperate to ensure the safety of the airport in ways unimaginable a few weeks ago.
On Saturday, Taliban fighters escorted a steady stream of Afghans from the bus to the main passenger terminal and handed them over to the U.S. military for evacuation.
Compared with the first time they took power, the Taliban promised a more moderate rule, which the U.S. military ended because they provided shelter for al-Qaeda.
But many Afghans worry that the Taliban’s harsh interpretation of Islamic law will repeat itself, as well as violent retaliation in cooperation with foreign troops, Western missions, or former US-backed governments.
Western allies have warned that thousands of Afghans at risk cannot board the evacuation flight.
On Sunday, the Taliban revealed that their supreme leader Shibatura Ahunzada is in southern Afghanistan and plans to appear in public.
“He is in Kandahar. He has lived there from the beginning,” said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
“He will be in front of the public soon,” the leader’s deputy spokesperson, Bilal Karimi, added that his whereabouts remain largely unknown.
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