Islamic State Militant Group Claims Responsibility for Kabul Rocket Attack
The Islamic State militant group's affiliate in Afghanistan, also known as ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for a rocket attack in the capital of Kabul on Monday, the Associated Press reported.
The group's Aamaq news agency announced the attack and said at least six Katyusha rockets were fired toward Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA). Some rockets hit a neighborhood near the airport. The U.S. military confirmed five rockets were fired toward the airport and were intercepted by U.S. forces on the airfield using a defense system.
Despite the attack, U.S. military C-17 cargo jets continued to take off and land at Kabul's airport. The U.S. military's Central Command spokesman Captain Bill Urban said there were no American casualties. He said the rockets were intercepted with a Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortar system known as C-RAM.
The attack follows the militant group's suicide bombing attack on Thursday outside of the airport that killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 169 Afghans.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Afghanistan Receives Medical Supplies From the WHO on a Plane From Pakistan
A plane provided by the government of Pakistan has brought medicine and health supplies from the World Health Organization (WHO) to Afghanistan.
WHO said Monday's shipment was the first of medical supplies to land in Afghanistan since the country came under control of the Taliban two weeks ago.
The plane, which departed from Dubai, landed in Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, fell to the Taliban on August 14, a day before Kabul.
WHO said the supplies included trauma kits and emergency health kits enough to cover the basic needs of more than 200,000 people, as well as treat 6,500 trauma patients. It said the supplies will be delivered to 40 health facilities in 29 provinces across Afghanistan.
The plane was loaded with supplies by WHO's logistics team at the International Humanitarian City in Dubai. WHO said that "a reliable humanitarian air bridge is urgently required."
"The demanding humanitarian work of meeting the needs of tens of millions of vulnerable Afghans who remain in the country is now beginning," the agency added.
Kabul's Airport Still Operating Despite Rocket Attack
C-RAM targeted the rockets in a whirling hail of ammunition, Urban said. The system has a distinct, drill-like sound that echoed through the city at the time of the attack.
He said the Kabul airfield remains operational as the evacuation continued on Monday. Other details were not immediately available.
Meanwhile, Ross Wilson, the chargé d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul now working out of the airport, insisted that evacuations remain ongoing Monday. He dismissed as false claims that American citizens have been turned away or were denied access to the Kabul airport by U.S. Embassy staff or American troops.
"This is a high-risk operation. Claims that American citizens have been turned away or denied access to HKIA by Embassy staff or US Forces are false," he said in a message on Twitter, using the abbreviation for the Kabul airport. He did not elaborate.
Pakistan International Airlines Will Provide Essential Supplies to Afghanistan
Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul said on Monday that his country's national carrier is setting up an airlift for medical supplies from the WHO to Afghanistan's northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
The diplomat, Mansoor Ahmad Khan, announced on Twitter that the state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will serve as a humanitarian air bridge for essential supplies to Afghanistan, in coordination with international agencies.
He thanked PIA, as the carrier is known, for the supplies. It wasn't immediately clear when the airlift would begin.
The latest development comes days after WHO sought Pakistan's help in airlifting medical supplies to Afghanistan following last week's deadly attack on the Kabul airport.
Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, fell to the Taliban on August 14, a day before Kabul.
Later on Monday, Pakistan's state-run news agency said the PIA plane landed in Mazar-e-Sharif after taking of from Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
150 Afghan Evacuees Arrive in Albania
Another plane carrying 150 Afghans who fled their homeland fearing the Taliban takeover arrived in Albania early on Monday, the Foreign Ministry said.
The new arrivals brought the total number of Afghans brought to this Balkan country to 607. A ministry statement said the plane had come from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Albania has accommodated most of the Afghans in hotels and some of them temporarily at the students' campus in the capital of Tirana.
The government has said it may house up to 4,000 Afghans for at least a year before they move to the United States for final settlement.
Militants Fire Across Afghanistan's Border Toward Pakistan's Military Post
Pakistan's military says suspected militants fired across the border from Afghanistan at a military post in northwestern Pakistan, killing two soldiers.
The military says the cross-border attack took place on Sunday, in the district of Bajur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It said Pakistani troops returned fire "in a befitting manner," killing some attackers and wounding others.
The military said Pakistan strongly condemns the use of Afghan soil by "terrorists for activities against Pakistan" and expects the current and future authorities in Afghanistan not to allow such activities.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and the Pakistani military provided no further details. Pakistan and Afghanistan have long accused one another of harboring militants fighting against the other's government.
The two share an internationally recognized border known as the Durand Line, which was drawn in the 19th century when the British dominated South Asia. Kabul has never recognized the boundary.
