The death toll in Thursday's attack at the Kabul airport rose sharply Friday from 90 to 170, reports the BBC. As a result, the attack is now one of the deadliest in the entire 20-year history of the Afghan war, notes the New York Times. The number of US troops killed remained at 13. Another 15 are wounded. Also:
- Big clarification: The Pentagon said Friday that only one explosion occurred, not two as originally reported, per the Hill. A suicide bomber slipped in among the crowd outside the airport's Abbey gate and detonated his explosives. No explosion occurred at a nearby hotel.
- Numbers: Many civilian bodies cannot be retrieved, so expect the death toll to grow, reports the Washington Post. As of now, the estimated total of people injured is 155.
- Biden: The president addressed Afghanistan again at the White House as he met with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “The mission there being performed is dangerous and has now come with significant loss of American personnel, but it’s a worthy mission because they continue to evacuate folks out of that region, out of the airport,” he said. “They’ve evacuated more than 12,000 additional people out of the airport in the last 24 hours.”
- Bracing for more: The US military is expecting more such violence at or near the airport. The Wall Street Journal reports that Biden's national security team warned the president that another terror attack is likely and that the next few days leading up to the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline may be the most dangerous yet.
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