Kabul attack live updates: Dozens dead in suicide bombings outside nation’s international airport; Joe Biden vows revenge

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Biden vows retaliation for the attack

Speaking at the White House for the first time since the attacks, US President Joe Biden, vowed retaliation.

“We will not forgive,” he said. Will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay.”

US President Joe Biden condemned the attacks that killed 12 US Marines. Credit:AP

“I will defend our interest and our people with every measure at my command.”

He said the 12 troops who died were “heroes” who had participated in a “dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others”.

Biden, addressed media after the deadly blast outside of the Kabul airport, said the situation is still in flux.

“The situation on the ground is still evolving and I’m constantly being updated,” he said.

“These American service members who gave their lives – that is an overused word but it is totally appropriate here – were heroes, heroes who have been engaged in a dangerous selfless mission to save the lives of others.”

Watch: Joe Biden condemns the terrorist attack

US President Joe Biden condemned the attack in a televised address and has vowed to make the perpetrators pay for the suicide attack.

Australian soldiers safe as evacuation suspended

No Australian soldiers or officials have been injured in the blast that has claimed at least 12 US service members’ lives.

The Australian military’s Joint Operation Command earlier said it was “aware of reports of an explosion at Kabul Airport”.

“All ADF personnel supporting the Afghanistan evacuation are safe,” the JOC said on Twitter.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton confirmed Australia managed to get all of its troops out of Afghanistan before the bomb attack.

“Our troops will be devastated by the loss of their comrades,” he told Channel Nine’s Today show.

Dutton said there was “clear intelligence” that Islamic State’s local affiliate was planning a terror attack in the lead-up to Thursday night.

The Australian airlift operation – which involved multiple RAAF aircraft – ended on Thursday afternoon hours before the two blasts.

It is now highly unlikely Australia will operate any more rescue flights before the August 31 deadline the Taliban set to end evacuations.

Good morning

Welcome to our live coverage of the overnight terrorist attacks in Kabul.

Here’s a summary of what we know so far:

  • Islamic State struck the crowded gates of Kabul airport in a suicide bomb attack early Friday morning AEST, killing scores of civilians and 12 US troops, and throwing into mayhem the airlift of tens of thousands of Afghans desperate to flee;
  • Kabul health officials were quoted as saying 60 civilians were killed. ISIS-K, an offshoot of the ISIS terror group, claimed the attack;
  • US President Joe Biden has vowed retaliation saying the nation would not forgive or forget the incident. “We will hunt you down and make you pay; and
  • Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the government condemns “utterly the terrorist attack at Kabul airport”.
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