‘We’ll not forgive, we’ll hunt you down’: Biden
“We will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay,” he said, directly addressing those who carried out the suicide bombings near Kabul airport, as well as “anyone who wishes America harm”.
Speaking at the White House, President Biden also praised the 12 US troops who died in the attacks, describing them as “heroes”.
In the televised address, he vowed that the United States would not be deterred from its mission to evacuate thousands of civilians from Afghanistan despite the deadly blast.
“We will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation,” President Biden said.
He reaffirmed next Tuesday, 31 August, as the deadline for US troops to leave Afghanistan.
There remains an “opportunity for the next several days, between now and the 31st, to be able to get them out,” Mr Biden said.
“Knowing the threat, knowing that we may very well have another attack, the military has concluded that that’s what we should do. I think they are right.”
The president also said he had seen no evidence that the Taliban colluded with Islamic State militants in carrying out the attacks.
“There is no evidence thus far that I’ve been given as a consequence by any of the commanders in the field that there has been collusion between the Taliban and ISIS in carrying out what happened today,” he said.
Other world leaders also condemned the attacks.
