biden afghanistan address august 27 2021
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about the situation in Afghanistan in the East Room of the White House on August 26, 2021 in Washington, DC. At least 12 American service members were killed on Thursday by suicide bomb attacks near the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
  • President Biden was briefed that another terror attack in Kabul is "likely" following Thursday's deadly blast.
  • A suicide bomber with ISIS-K set off an explosion that killed 13 US service members and at least 169 Afghans, per AP.
  • The mission's next few days "will be the most dangerous period to date," the White House warned.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

President Joe Biden was briefed on Friday that another terrorist attack in Kabul is "likely" and the last few days of the withdrawal will be "the most dangerous yet," according to the White House.

This comes a day after a blast outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport killed 13 US service members, according to the Pentagon, and over 200 Afghan civilians as of Friday, according to Afghan health officials.

Thursday's explosion was committed by a single suicide bomber associated with ISIS-K, Afghanistan's Islamic State affiliate, the Pentagon said.

The US is staring down an August 31 deadline to withdraw its military presence from Afghanistan, which has been taken over by the Taliban, and evacuate as many US citizens and Afghan allies as possible amid increasingly dangerous conditions.

"The U.S. military is airlifting out thousands of people every few hours," the White House readout of the briefing said. "They continue to prioritize evacuating the remaining American citizens who have indicated they wish to leave, and are engaged in a variety of means to get them to an airport safely."

US Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie of the US Central Command also warned of imminent attacks and a longer-term resurgence of terror in the region in a Thursday Pentagon press briefing.

"The threat from ISIS is extremely real," McKenzie told reporters. "We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks, and we expect those attacks to continue."

In a Thursday evening speech, Biden pledged that the US' evacuation efforts would continue up until the 31st, and made a vow of retribution to the terrorists responsible for the attack.

"We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," Biden said. "These ISIS terrorists will not win."

The White House said that military commanders also "updated: Biden and Vice President Kamala President Harris "on plans to develop ISIS-K targets."

Read the original article on Business Insider