US will 'hunt down terrorists,' respond with force, precision: Biden

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - US President Joe Biden confirmed Thursday that attacks outside Kabul airport in Afghanistan that killed at least 12 American soldiers were carried out by the ISIS-K terror 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.”

While 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.

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

On vulnerable Afghans, he went on to say that "getting every single person" out of Kabul "can't be guaranteed."

The US will respond to the Kabul attacks "with force, precision at our time, at a place we choose, the moment of our choosing," he said.

Biden also emphasized that he ordered US commanders to develop operational plans "to strike ISIS-K assets, [its] leadership, facilities."

"I bear responsibility fundamentally for all that has happened of late,” he added.