Rockets were fired at the Hamid Karzai International airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday, but a US missile defense system intercepted them.
The attempted attack came the day before the August 31 deadline for withdrawing US troops, and as the US scrambles to evacuate its military and citizens from Afghanistan.
A US official told Reuters that five rockets launched at the airport and there weren’t reports of US casualties.
Local news reports said the attack was carried out form a Kabul neighborhood not far away from the airport using a vehicle that was modified and turned into a rocket launcher. The rockets being fired reportedly set fire to the modified vehicle, with photos posted on local media showing a burnt and near-destroyed car chassis with rocket launcher tubes in it.
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As Al Jazeera reported, the White House confirmed the rocket attack but clarified that it didn’t impede evacuation procedures.
President Joe Biden was briefed on the rocket attacks early Monday morning. US troops are in the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan after being a presence in the country for 20 years.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the rocket attack, Reuters reported.
So far, around 114,400 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan, including foreign nationals and Afghans themselves. The evacuation effort, which is being coordinated by the US and allied forces, began the day before the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15. A deadline of August 31 was then given to the US and allied forces themselves to withdraw entirely from Afghanistan.
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This attack comes the day after US forces launched another drone attack in the country following the suicide bombing at Kabul airport that took place last Thursday and killed almost 200 people, including 13 US service members.
US officials said that their latest drone attack was intended to target suicide bombers in Kabul, but there are reports saying multiple children were killed in the incident.