Biden Pledges to Continue Kabul Evacuation After Attack

Here is today’s Foreign Policy brief: The United States vows to continue evacuations after Kabul’s airport attacks, U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador remains silent on the “Remain in Mexico” program.

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Hours after the Islamic State launched a coordinated suicide bomb attack among the desperate crowds gathered outside Kabul’s international airport on Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to continue evacuations—and to retaliate against the perpetrators. “Know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget,” he said in a speech from the White House. “We will hunt you down and make you pay.”

The attack killed more than 70 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. troops in at least two blasts, leaving the area around the airport in chaos. Members of the Islamic State’s local branch, known as Islamic State-Khorasan, detonated suicide vests at the airport’s Abbey Gate and outside the nearby Baron Hotel. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the attack, which underscores the security challenges the group faces as it formally establishes a government in Kabul.

The bombings came just days before an Aug. 31 deadline for full U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, which had already added an extreme sense of urgency to the evacuations of U.S. citizens and Afghan allies who had been able to make it through the airport gates. Biden had deployed 5,800 troops to assist with the evacuation effort, but he had expressed hesitancy to keep them at the airport past Aug. 31 due to the potential for terrorist attacks.

It remains unclear whether a military response to the bombings is already being undertaken and if the United States has adequate capacity on the ground to carry it out.

Who bears responsibility? Although Islamic State-Khorasan has claimed responsibility for the attack, Sajjan M. Gohel argues in Foreign Policy that the Taliban faction partially in control of security at the airport, the Haqqani network, should also be scrutinized. The attack ultimately benefits the Haqqani network by speeding up foreign departures and evacuations. “It’s often said there’s a clear split between Islamic State-Khorasan and the Taliban, but the harsh reality of terrorism and politics in Afghanistan is the situation is never black and white,” Gohel writes.

Can evacuations continue? Meanwhile, Biden and his military leadership have promised to continue evacuation flights of U.S. citizens and others, but Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby said the military would prioritize flying out U.S. troops and equipment in the final days of the mission. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the United Kingdom would also continue evacuations despite the attack. Canada had already ended evacuations from the airport on Thursday, a position Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had to defend just ahead of next month’s elections.

Biden meets with Bennett, after delay. Overshadowed by the bombings at Kabul’s airport, Biden had to delay his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the White House. They will hold their planned meeting today. The new leaders are hoping for a reset of the U.S.-Israel relationship after more than a decade of Benjamin Netanyahu’s premiership. Bennett has already met with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Bennett quickly expressed sympathy after the attack in Kabul. “On behalf of the people of Israel, I share our deep sadness over the loss of American lives in Kabul,” he said in a statement. “Israel stands with the United States in these difficult times, just as America has always stood with us.”

AMLO remains mum on “Remain in Mexico.” Speaking Thursday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador avoided questions about the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” program, days after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block a lower court’s order for the Biden administration to reinstate the policy. The program required U.S. asylum-seekers to await their hearings in Mexico.

López Obrador did say Mexico would continue cooperating with the United States on immigration—for now. “We have tried to keep migrants in shelters, above all to protect minors, women,” he said. “But this can’t go on forever.” Meanwhile, Reuters reports the United States urged Mexico to clear camps near the border on Thursday.

Another round of aid to Haiti. The United States said it will provide another $32 million in aid to Haiti to help those affected by the earthquake earlier this month. In the past, Washington and the international community have been criticized for providing aid without supporting state building and strengthening local communities.

U.S. Agency for International Development chief Samantha Power seemed to address such concerns on Thursday. “Perhaps the most important lesson [from 2010] is that no development agency and no army or diplomatic corps can just import a perfect humanitarian response from afar,” Power said, citing the need for local expertise.

Blasts at Kazakh military facility. Kazakhstan evacuated people living near an ammunition depot in Jambyl province after a series of explosions that wounded at least 60 people on Thursday. The blasts came after a fire at the facility, which was storing engineering-purpose explosives. In 2019, four people were killed by a similar explosion in Arys in the nearby Turkestan region, prompting protests. It was the third lethal explosion near the town in a decade.

A full-sized replica of an 18th-century merchant ship docked in Stockholm on Thursday ahead of a planned trip to Asia next year. The original Gotheborg of Sweden ran aground and sank in 1745 after its third trip to China. Its wreckage wasn’t found until 1984, prompting the idea of the replica. The new ship hasn’t left its home port for six years, but it will begin its long journey east through the Suez Canal next April.

Chloe Hadavas contributed to this report.