Turkish president says fatalities in Kabul blasts reach 170

SARAJEVO, Bosnia, and Herzegovina

Turkey's president on Friday said the death toll in Thursday's terror attacks in Kabul has reached 170.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks came during his one-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo.

"Unfortunately, the world, along with Afghanistan, is now locked on a single spot," Erdogan noted.

He said, "Countries that say are the strongest in the world ... should have withdrawn (from countries they entered) more sensitively and cautiously," adding: "These withdrawals did not happen as they said. Unfortunately, withdrawing from these countries by handing them over to terrorist organizations produces heavy consequences."

It is impossible to think that Turkey or any other country would benefit from the conflict between terror groups in Afghanistan, he added.

Addressing the media, Erdogan said Turkey has evacuated all its teams and civilians from Afghanistan, while there is currently only a small number of technical personnel in the country.

He also noted that Turkey will discuss future steps and plans on NATO's position on Afghanistan.

“The evacuation of heroic Turkish Armed Forces personnel, who successfully performed their duty in Afghanistan for 20 years, has been completed,” the Turkish National Defense Ministry tweeted late Friday.

The Turkish president on Friday arrived in Sarajevo, the first stop on his western Balkan mini-tour visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Montenegro.

On Saturday, Erdogan will arrive in Podgorica, the capital of neighboring Montenegro, at the invitation of President Milo Djukanovic.