US will 'hunt down terrorists', respond with 'force and precision'

US President Joe Biden confirmed Thursday that attacks outside Kabul airport in Afghanistan which killed at least 13 American soldiers were carried out by the ISIS-K terrorist group, the Afghan affiliate of Daesh/ISIS, and promised to respond with "force and precision."

Referring to ISIS-K, "an archenemy of the Taliban," Biden said "we will not forgive, we will not forget, we will hunt you down and make you pay.”

Delivering remarks from the East Room of the White House on the terrorist attack on Hamid Karzai International Airport, he said the US "will continue evacuations" while making plans to strike the ISIS-K terror group.

"America will not be intimidated," he underscored.

Multiple explosions shook Afghanistan's capital Thursday, including two outside the airport serving the city, killing dozens and wounding over 140, according to media reports and Anadolu Agency's correspondent on the ground.

'No collusion' between Taliban, ISIS-K

In his address to the nation, Biden asked Americans to join him in a moment of silence "for all those in uniform."

Those Americans who died were "heroes trying to save the lives of others," he said. "We're outraged as well as heartbroken."

"We have some reason to believe we know who they are, [but we’re] not certain" and will find ways of choosing to get them, he said.

Biden underlined that there was no evidence of collusion between the Taliban and ISIS-K in the latest attacks in Kabul.

The president noted that ISIS-K, "the enemy of the Taliban," was planning a complex set of attacks and that is why he was so determined to limit the scope of the operation in Afghanistan.

Turning to the Taliban, he said "no one trusts them. We're just counting on their self-interest to continue to generate their activities, and it's in their self-interest that we leave when we said and that we get as many people out as we can."

The Taliban are "not good guys," but they "have a keen interest' in trying to keep Kabul airport open, he added...

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• Dozens of civilians, 12 U.S. troops killed in bloodbath at Kabul airport | Reuters

• BREAKING: At least 11 people killed in explosion outside Kabul airport.