Afghanistan: Pentagon investigating reports of civilians killed in Kabul airstrike — live updates
- US looking into reports of civilians killed in Kabul airstrike
- Foreign ministers set to meet Monday to discuss plans for Afghanistan
- Reports of rockets being fired at Kabul airport
This article was last updated at 4:19 UTC/GMT time. For coverage of yesterday’s events in Afghanistan see here.
Rockets fired at Kabul airport
Rockets were launched at Kabul airport early on Monday, both AFP and Reuters news agencies have reported.
AFP said the airport’s missile defense system was activated in response to the rocket fire, according to reporters on the ground.
An anonymous US official told Reuters that as many as five rockets were shot off towards Kabul airport, but they were intercepted by the US missile defense system. The official said there were no indication of US casualties from the rockets so far.
Heiko Maas lands in Uzbekistan
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas landed in Tashkent, Uzbekistan to discuss the impact of the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan. Later on Monday, Maas will go to Dushanbe, Tajikistan for talks.
On Tuesday, Maas will visit Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital.
All three countries border Afghanistan, and are destinations for Afghan refugees. Maas has pledged the three border countries humanitarian and economic aid.
US military looking into reports of airstrike casualties
The Pentagon acknowledged reports of civilian casualties from a US drone strike in Kabul on Sunday, according to a statement from US Central Command spokesperson Bill Urban.
“We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike on a vehicle in Kabul today,” Urban said, while adding the Pentagon is still assessing the results of the strike.
“We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties,” he continued.
“We would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life,” Urban said.
CNN reported that nine members of a family, including six children, were killed in the airstrike. An anonymous Afghan official also told AP news agency that three children were killed in the strike near Kabul airport.
The Pentagon said the strike targeted an “imminent” suicide bomb threat from several members of the “Islamic State Khorasan” IS-K group. The bombers were reportedly planning to target Kabul airport, where the US military is conducting an ongoing evacuation mission.
IS-K claimed responibility for a deadly Kabul airport bombing that killed US troops earlier in the week.
Countries to hold virtual meeting
Foreign ministers from several countries will meet virtually on Monday to discuss their plans for Afghanistan, the US State Department has announced.
Representatives from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, Turkey, Qatar, the European Union and NATO are set to participate, the State Department said.
“The participants will discuss an aligned approach for the days and weeks ahead,” the statement said.
The statement also said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would speak after the meeting to give an update on the US’ recent efforts in Afghanistan.
German chancellor candidates on Afghanistan
In a televised debate, the three candidates to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany’s election touched on events in Afghanistan.
Armin Laschet for Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) described what happened as “a disaster for the West, also a disaster for the German government” and renewed a call for a “national security council” to improve decision-making in Germany.
Annalena Baerbock for the environmentalist Greens accused the government of “ducking away” from decisions on assisting endangered Afghans out of the country.
Olaf Scholz for the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) said the Left Party’s refusal to support the military evacuation mission from Kabul “greatly saddened” him and insisted that any government he leads must have “a clear commitment to NATO.”
wd, mv/aw (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)