Several rockets were fired towards Afghanistan’s Kabul international airport but were intercepted by a missile defense system.
Several rockets have been fired at Kabul’s international airport, a day before the deadline for the US troops to pull out of Afghanistan ends.
The White House, which confirmed the attack, said that evacuation operations at the airport were not interrupted, adding that US President Joe Biden was briefed about the latest rocket attack on Monday morning aimed at the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul.
A US official told the Reuters news agency that some of the rockets were intercepted by a missile defence system.
The attack comes a day after the US forces launched second drone attack in Afghanistan after Thursday’s suicide bombing at the airport that left nearly 200 people dead. At least 13 US troops were also among those killed.
The US said it had wanted to take out suicide bombers in the latest drone attack in Kabul but media reports say several children were killed in the incident that destroyed a car laden with explosives.
Here are the latest updates:
Children among civilians killed in US drone attack
Several children have been killed in a US drone attack that destroyed a car laden with explosives near the international airport in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, according to witnesses.
Witnesses told Al Jazeera at least three children were among six civilians who died in Sunday’s attack, while some media reports say nine members of one family – including six children – were among the dead.
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Japan evacuates one national and 14 Afghan people
Japan said that military aircraft the government had deployed for Afghanistan left Kabul carrying one Japanese person, and are currently staying in a neighbouring country.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said during a news conference that the aircraft also evacuated 14 Afghan people to another country at the request of the United States.
A small number of Japanese still remain in Afghanistan as they did not wish to leave the country, Kato said.
Mexico receives more fleeing Afghan journalists, families
Mexico has received 86 media workers and their family members from Afghanistan, the government says.
Most of the people who arrived with the latest flight worked for The Wall Street Journal newspaper in Afghanistan, the government said in a statement. The group, the third one to arrive since evacuations began, landed at Mexico City’s international airport.
Mexico called the reception of people from Afghanistan “a political decision” carried out in full adherence to the historical tradition of humanitarian assistance. “The government of Mexico … reiterates its willingness to grant protection and assistance for humanitarian reasons – within its capacities – to people from that country, whose life and integrity are in imminent danger.”
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