Washington/Kabul: Following the deadly suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport that claimed the lives of at least 103 people, President Joe Biden on Thursday promised to avenge the deaths, declaring to the extremists responsible: "We will hunt you down and make you pay."
He also vowed to complete the evacuation of American citizens and others from Afghanistan despite the chaos unfolded at the capital following the attack.
As per reports, the bomb blast which claimed the lives of at least 103 people, included 13 American service members, with 18 more injured troops currently in the process of being flown out of the country.
"We will respond with force and precision in our time, in a place we choose in a manner of our choosing," Biden said when delivering remarks from the White House late Thursday, following the bombings at the Hamid Karzai International Airport earlier in the day.
The blast at the airport was followed by another one at the adjacent Baron Hotel, whose details are being figured out by the US military.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a senior Afghan health official, reported that the explosions left at least 90 Afghan civilians dead.
The Afghan Ministry of Public Health previously confirmed the attacks had resulted in over 60 deaths and 140 injuries among Afghans and were claimed by ISIS-K, a radical affiliate of the Islamic State.
Active in Afghanistan, the terror group has been fighting enemies, including the Taliban.
Biden said he had ordered US military commanders to "strike ISIS-K assets, leadership and facilities", stopping short of elaborating on the specifics.
"These IS terrorists will not win. We will rescue the Americans. We will get our Afghan allies out. And our mission will go on," he added.
Biden said that he'll deploy additional troops to Afghanistan in the wake of the attacks, if necessary.
The Taliban has issued a statement condemning the attacks in their aftermath.
The president also said that he would "bear responsibility for fundamentally all that's happened" during the chaotic withdrawal in Afghanistan, while also shifting the blame on his predecessor Donald Trump, whose administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban to get all US forces out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021.
The attacks came as the US has been scrambling to evacuate Americans and its Afghan partners from the war-torn country since the Taliban entered Kabul on August 15.
After seizing Kabul, the Taliban said all US troops must leave Afghanistan no later than August 31, and Biden has upheld that deadline.