Joe Biden tells Kabul attackers: 'We will hunt you down and make you pay'

26 August 2021, 22:35 | Updated: 27 August 2021, 06:26

Joe Biden warns Isis-K: We will hunt you down and make you pay

US President Joe Biden has vowed not to "forgive" the attacks on Kabul Airport, and has promised to "hunt down" the people behind them and make them "pay".

Speaking to reporters from the White House, Mr Biden said: "To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this - we will not forgive.

"We will not forget.

"We will hunt you down and make you pay."

He added: "These ISIS terrorists will not win."

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Mr Biden began his press conference by simply stating: "A tough day."

He paid tribute to the 13 US servicemen who were killed in Thursday's attacks on Kabul Airport, saying: "These American service members who gave their lives - it's an overused word, but it's totally appropriate here - [they] were heroes.

"Heroes who have been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others."

He said the lives lost were given "in the service of liberty, the service of security, the service of others".

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He added that the loss of life - both of military personnel and civilians - had left him "outraged as well as heartbroken", saying: "Our hearts ache for all those Afghan families who lost love ones."

The president also said the evacuation mission in Afghanistan would continue, saying: "We will not be deterred by terrorists.

"We will not let them stop our mission, we will continue the evacuation."

Mr Biden appeared to choke up at the end of his address, as he promised: "We will complete our mission, we will continue after our troops have withdrawn to find means by which we can find any American who wishes to get out of Afghanistan.

"We will find them and we will get them out."

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Hamid Karzai International Airport - the international airport in Kabul - was rocked by two explosions on Wednesday.

The first occurred at a hotel where evacuees are being processed, whilst the second took place near one of the main entrances to the airport.

So far, 73 people - 13 US service personnel and 60 Afghan civilians - are thought to have died.

It is not known how many casualties there are, although the Pentagon has confirmed that 18 US military personnel have been injured, and a health official in Kabul told the BBC that 140 Afghan civilians were also hurt.

The Islamic State group reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks.

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Countries, including the UK and the US, have been rushing to evacuate their citizens from Afghanistan since the Taliban retook control of the country.

The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said his group "strongly condemns" the attack.

His group is a rival of Isis-K, the regional affiliate of Isis.