As many as 5 rockets were fired on Kabul airport, says US official

The C-RAM defense system installed at the airport engaged with the rockets, the official said. There are no reports of any casualties at this time.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, but cautioned it was too early to know for sure.A civilian vehicle was apparently used as an improvised platform in the rocket attack. Video obtained by CNN showed the vehicle in flames on a street in Kabul’s Khair Khana neighborhood after the rockets were fired.Nine members of one family — including six children, the youngest only 2 years old — were killed in a drone strike targeting a vehicle in Kabul, a relative of the family told CNN.US forces have been racing to complete their evacuation operation from Afghanistan before Tuesday’s deadline to withdraw all US troops and under the threat of a new terror attack on the airport. Although the government has faced calls both internationally and internally to extend the deadline, Biden has insisted they will finish operations by the end of the month.Earlier Monday, Kabul residents said they had heard a blast in the early hours of the morning, though there was no clear indication of the kind of explosion or any official confirmation of the source of the blast.Biden has been briefed on the rocket attack, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki in a statement.Psaki added that Biden was informed “operations continue uninterrupted” at the airport, as Tuesday’s deadline approaches.