Rockets fired at Kabul airport, intercepted by US C-RAM missile defense system

The rockets struck Kabul’s Salim Karwan neighborhood during the ongoing US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Gunfire followed the explosions but it was not clear who was firing or who launched the rocket attack.

According to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, President Joe Biden has been briefed on the news and told Fox News that the President "has reconfirmed his order that commanders redouble their efforts to prioritize doing whatever is necessary to protect our forces on the ground."

On Sunday, a US drone strike destroyed a vehicle carrying "multiple suicide bombers" from Afghanistan’s Islamic State (ISIS K) affiliate, preventing an attack on the airport, according to American officials said. According to the Associated Press, the US State Department released a statement Sunday signed by 100 countries, in addition to NATO and the EU stating that "they had received 'assurances' from the Taliban that people with travel documents would still be able to leave the country."

Earlier this week, an ISIS-K suicide bomber killed almost 200 people including 169 Afghans and 13 US service members. In retaliation, the US killed two members of the ISIS-K terrorist organization in a drone strike elsewhere on Saturday.

The deadline for the US to complete the withdrawal from Afghanistan is Tuesday August 31, by which time the US is aiming to wrap-up a two-week-long airlift of more than 114,000 Afghans, foreigners and troops. America’s longest war is scheduled to end right before the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, with the Taliban back in power in Afghanistan.