The number of people killed in the suicide bomb attack near Kabul airport climbed over 180, according to some US media including The New York Times.
Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul's airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.
The blasts came hours after Western officials warned of a major attack, urging people to leave the airport. But that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country in the last few days of an American-led evacuation before the US officially ends its 20-year presence on Aug 31.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the killings on its Amaq news channel.
The IS affiliate in Afghanistan is far more radical than the Taliban, who recently took control of the country in a lightning blitz. The Taliban were not believed to have been involved in the attacks and condemned the blasts.
In an emotional speech from the White House, US President Joe Biden said the latest bloodshed would not drive the US out of Afghanistan earlier than scheduled, and that he had instructed the US military to develop plans to strike IS.
We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay, Biden said.
Over the last week, the airport has been the scene of some of the most searing images of the chaotic end of America's longest war and the Taliban's takeover, as flight after flight took off carrying those who fear a return to the militants' brutal rule. When the Taliban were last in power, they confined women largely to their home and widely imposed draconian restrictions.
Already, some countries have ended their evacuations and begun to withdraw their soldiers and diplomats, signalling the beginning of the end of one of history's largest airlifts. The Taliban have insisted foreign troops must be out by America's self-imposed deadline of Aug. 31 and the evacuations must end then, too.
US retaliation
US Central Command said the strike took place in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul and bordering Pakistan.
"Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties," a US military statement said.
It did not say whether the target was connected with the airport attack.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was against an Islamic State militant planning future attacks.
A reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the militant while he was in a car with an Islamic State associate, the official said. Both are believed to have been killed, the official added.
US forces in Kabul have been anticipating another attack from Islamic State militants.
(With inputs from Reuters)
