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  Another attack on Kabul airport is highly likely, US President Joe Biden has warned, saying commanders have told him it could come as early as Sunday. The US is continuing evacuations but the final UK troops, diplomats and officials have now left Kabul. A suicide bombing near the airport on Thursday resulted in some 170 deaths. A local branch of the Islamic State group - Islamic State in Khorasan Province (IS-K) - claimed the attack. In retaliation, the US carried out a drone strike on eastern Afghanistan late on Friday, saying it had killed two "high-profile" IS-K members. The two are described as a planner and a facilitator. It is unclear whether they were directly involved in planning the Kabul airport attack. "This strike was not the last. We will continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay," Mr Biden said in a statement released on Saturday. IS-K is the most extreme and violent of all the jihadist militant gro...

  While the Taliban have confined their struggle to Afghanistan, the Islamic State group in Afghanistan and Pakistan has embraced the Islamic State’s call for a worldwide jihad against non-Muslims. The Islamic State offshoot that Americans blame for Thursday’s deadly suicide attacks outside the Kabul airport coalesced in eastern Afghanistan six years ago, and rapidly grew into one of the more dangerous terror threats globally. Despite years of military targeting by the U.S.-led coalition, the group known as Islamic State Khorasan has survived to launch a massive new assault as the United States and other NATO partners withdraw from Afghanistan, and as the Taliban return to power. President Joe Biden cited the threat of Islamic State attacks in sticking with a Tuesday deadline for pulling U.S. forces out of Afghanistan. Biden blamed the group for Thursday’s attacks, which included a suicide bomber who slipped into the crowds of Afghans outside airport gates controlled by U.S...

  As Western diplomats scrambled to Kabul airport while the Taliban overran the city last weekend, Russia's embassy there remained demonstratively open and announced its diplomats would work as normal. It was a sign of how, although seemingly surprised by the speed of the Taliban's takeover as the rest of the world, Russia is now trying to smoothly transition to working with the militants in power. Russian officials have so far spoken positively of the Taliban, praising them for maintaining order in the capital. Although Russia has said it will not rush to recognize the group as Afghanistan's government. "The Taliban movement currently controls virtually the entire territory of the country, including its capital. These are realities," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference with Germany's leader Angela Merkel on Friday. "And we should act based on these very realities, not allowing the Afghan state's breakup." Russi...

  Kabul Airport Attack: No doubt that Joe Biden's presidency has been shaken to the core by the bombing at Kabul's airport. Washington, United States: Eyes closing, voice cracking, Joe Biden physically reflected the terrible blow to his presidency from the slaying of 13 US service members during the desperate Kabul evacuation. Addressing the nation from the White House, Biden bowed his head for a moment of silence before taking questions from journalists pressing him on the bloody twist in the already tragic operation to shut down the 20-year war in Afghanistan. He appeared occasionally close to tears as he spoke of the dead "heroes." And when he promised the attackers "we will hunt you down," there was steel in his voice. No doubt that Biden's presidency has been shaken to the core by the bombing at Kabul's airport. In January, he took office promising calm at home and respect for the United States abroad after the turbulent Donald Trump...

  "We will process those people that we have brought with us, the 1,000 people approximately inside the airfield now," British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News. London, United Kingdom: Britain said Friday that it plans to complete its evacuations out of Afghanistan "in a matter of hours". "We will process those people that we have brought with us, the 1,000 people approximately inside the airfield now," British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News. "And we will seek a way to continue to find a few people in the crowd, where we can, but overall the main processing has now closed and we have a matter of hours." Wallace said that the UK had "closed the Baron Hotel" at 0330 GMT, where those wanting to fly to Britain had gathered. It also closed the processing centre for asylum seekers, and shut Abbey Gate, one of the points of access to Kabul airport and one of the areas targeted in the twin suicide bombings on T...

  The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the killings on its Amaq news channel Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul's airport on Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. The attacks killed at least 60 Afghans and 12 U.S. troops, Afghan and U.S. officials said. The U.S. general overseeing the evacuation vowed the United States would “go after” the perpetrators of the bombings, and warned that more such attacks are expected. “We are working very hard right now to determine attribution, to determine who is associated with this cowardly attack. And we’re prepared to take action against them,” Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told Pentagon reporters in a briefing. “Twenty-four-seven. We are looking for them.” Shortly after Gen. McKenzie spoke, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the killings...