As many as five rockets were fired at Kabul on Monday, CNN reported, citing US officials. The attack came a day after former president Donald Trump said that terrorists could use rockets to “shut down US planes.”
Trump’s comments came during a furious rant against the news media for spending Sunday evening reporting on Hurricane Ida as it made landfall in the United States instead of covering the crisis in Afghanistan, which the networks have been covering non-stop for the past week.
Trump said during an interview on the Todd Starnes show that US military planes departing Kabul “are in danger” because the terrorists “have rockets that shoot down planes” and that “we gave it to them, we handed it to them.”
Almost in cue, the attack took place as huge crowds gathered outside the airport, with Afghans desperately seeking a way out of Kabul.
Thankfully, the rockets were destroyed before hitting the ground after The C-RAM defense system installed at the airport engaged with the rockets, the official said.
C-RAM is an automated system that detects incoming attacks and uses a machine gun to destroy the incoming fire before it can hit its target. The system has been used in Iraq and Afghanistan to intercept and destroy incoming projectiles targeting US forces.
The US official said the rockets aimed at the airport were likely launched by ISIS-K militants.
It’s unclear if members of the terrorist group heard Trump’s comments before the attack.
Listen to Trump’s comments below:
