Johanny Rosario, of Lawrence, died when two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of desperate Afghans flocking to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in the waning days of an American-led evacuation before the U.S. officially ends its 20-year presence in Afghanistan on Aug. 31.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said one explosion was near an airport entrance and another was a short distance away by a hotel.
U.S. officials initially said 11 Marines were among those who died, but another service member died hours later. Eighteen more service members were wounded in the attack. The deadly bombing in Afghanistan also claimed the lives of at least 169 Afghans.
At least 113 Afghans were killed and 180 injured in Thursday's attacks outside Kabul airport, according to an unnamed Afghan Health Ministry source. 13 U.S. servicemen were also killed.
President Joe Biden called the military members heroes, representing the best of America, working selflessly to help others escape the Taliban regime that has retaken the country.
"They were part of the bravest, most capable, most selfless military on the face of the Earth," Biden said. "And they were part of simply what I call the backbone of America. They're the spine of America, the best the country has to offer."
Here are the military members who died. Eleven were U.S. Marines, according to Maj. Jim Stenger, a Marine Corps spokesperson, one was a Navy corpsman and one was a soldier.
The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the killings on its Amaq news channel. The IS affiliate in Afghanistan is far more radical than the Taliban, who recently took control of the country in a lightning blitz. The Taliban were not believed to have been involved in the attacks and condemned the blasts.
A retaliatory U.S. drone strike early Saturday in eastern Afghanistan killed a member of the country's Islamic State affiliate, U.S. Central Command said. Biden had laid responsibility for Thursday's suicide bombing on that offshoot extremist group which is an enemy both to the West and to Afghanistan's Taliban and is known for especially lethal attacks.
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A wounded patient is brought by a taxi to the hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. Twin bombings struck near the entrance to Kabul's airport Thursday, ripping through crowds of Afghans and foreign nationals waiting for evacuation from the country. The explosions complicated an already-nightmarish airlift just before the U.S. deadline to remove its troops from the country.
AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images
Relatives load in a car the coffin of a victim of the August 26 twin suicide bombs, which killed scores of people including 13 US troops outside Kabul airport, at a hospital run by the Italian NGO Emergency in Kabul on August 27, 2021.
Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A view of the entrance of a hospital after two explosions reported outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, the center of evacuation efforts from Afghanistan since the Taliban took over in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. No causalities of any of the many nationalities at the airport have been confirmed yet.
WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images
Taliban fighters stand on a pickup truck outside a hospital as volunteers bring injured people for treatment after two powerful explosions outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021.
AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon
Afghans lie on beds at a hospital after they were wounded in the deadly attacks outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Aug. 27, 2021. Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.
AP Photo/Mohammad Asif Khan
Wounded Afghans lie on a bed at a hospital after a deadly explosions outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021.
AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon
Afghans lie on beds at a hospital after they were wounded in the deadly attacks outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Aug. 27, 2021. Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.
Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Injured people being carried to a hospital as unspecified number of casualties reported after two explosions outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.
AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images
People gather to check on missing relatives a day after a twin suicide bombs attack, which killed scores of people including 13 US troops outside Kabul airport, at a hospital run by Italian NGO Emergency in Kabul on August 27, 2021.
AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon
Airplanes are parked on the tarmac after a deadly explosion outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. Two suicide bombers and gunmen have targeted crowds massing near the Kabul airport, in the waning days of a massive airlift that has drawn thousands of people seeking to flee the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon
Smoke rises from a deadly explosion outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. Two suicide bombers and gunmen have targeted crowds massing near the Kabul airport, in the waning days of a massive airlift that has drawn thousands of people seeking to flee the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Afghan people who want to leave the country continue to wait around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.
AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon
A U.S. soldiers stand inside the airport wall as hundreds of people gather some holding documents, near an evacuation control checkpoint on the perimeter of the Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. Western nations warned Thursday of a possible attack on Kabul’s airport, where thousands have flocked as they try to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the waning days of a massive airlift. Britain said an attack could come within hours.
Acting swiftly on Biden's promise to retaliate for the deadly suicide bombing at Kabul airport, the drone strike came amid what the White House called indications that IS planned to strike again before Tuesday's deadline for the U.S. to complete its exit.
Biden authorized the drone strike and it was ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet publicly announced.
The airstrike was launched from beyond Afghanistan less than 48 hours after the devastating Kabul attack that killed 13 Americans and scores of Afghans with just days left in a final U.S. withdrawal after 20 years of war. U.S. Central Command provided few details but said it believed its strike killed no civilians.
