Kabul

During the ceremony on Sunday at the Dover Air Force Base, Biden was joined by First Lady Jill Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley and other senior military officials, reports Xinhua news agency. The President and First Lady met privately with the families of the victims before observing flag-draped cases carrying 11 service members' remains were loaded into vans.

This actually distracted analysts into debating "Why was the last nail in the coffin so smooth", rather than discussing "Why there was a coffin in the first place". Currently, every strategic affairs expert seems to be asking the same question, "What is the road ahead for Afghanistan?" The answer to this question can be sought by strategically predicting the next moves of the various players operating in this region either openly, or in shadows.

Early reports suggest at least two people have been killed and three injured in the attack, according to Afghan media reports. BBC reported that the recent blast was caused by a rocket that struck a house near the airport. The airport was not hit directly. There have been multiple reports of a loud explosion heard near Kabul airport. Some images posted on social media show black clouds of smoke rising into the air.

The blast could be from a rocket that hit a nearby house and the airport was not targeted, the BBC quoted a local official as saying. There was no information of any casualties. Images posted on social media show black clouds of smoke rising into the air, and freelance journalist Shafi Karmi shared photos of the purported site of the attack. The blast came hours after US President Joe Biden warned that another attack in the airport area was highly likely.

"Ali Reza Ahmadi, a reporter for Raha News Agency and Najma Sadeqi, former presenter at Jahan-e-Sihat TV channel were killed in the airport attack," Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) said in a Twitter post. Nearly 200 people, including 13 US soldiers, were killed and hundreds others wounded in the suicide blast that hit an eastern airport gate, when huge crowds were waiting for evacuation flights.

"The situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous, and the threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high. Our commanders informed me that an attack is highly likely in the next 24-36 hours," Biden said in a statement on Saturday after meeting with his national security team.

Aslam is the mastermind of many attacks in Kabul including the massacres at a Sikh Gurudwara and a hospital last year. The ISKP had cited "revenge" for the Muslims of Kashmir' as their motive while claiming responsibility for the 25 March Kabul Gurdwara attack in which several Afghan Sikhs and one Indian national were killed.

"I was deeply saddened to learn that two British nationals and the child of another British national were killed by yesterday's terror attack, with two more injured," Raab said in a statement on Friday. Two suicide bomb attacks rocked the Kabul airport in the Afghan capital on Thursday, killing at least 103 people, including 13 US service members, and injuring 158 others. The Islamic State (IS) terror group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, saying it was targeting "translators and collaborators with the American army".

According to news emerging from Panjshir, both the groups had their first direct talks on Wednesday and Thursday, which, so far, have remained inconclusive. The dialogue was held in Charikar, the capital of Parwan province, neighbouring Panjshir.

"With the Kabul blasts, he (Biden) will have a tough job at hand (in stabilising the situation), especially as expectations from his people were high (after he defeated former President Donald Trump). The Afghanistan debacle shows that neither has he managed to keep his home front happy nor the global community," an analyst told India Narrative.