RTThu, 26 Aug 2021 18:23 UTC
© Reuters / ASVAKA NEWSInjured people arrive at a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 26, 2021.
Children are among dozens of people killed and injured in two major explosions outside the airport in Afghanistan's capital Kabul as dramatic evacuation efforts continue.
US Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby has confirmed the "complex attack" has "resulted in a number of US & civilian casualties".
The two explosions took place on Thursday just outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul:
one was at the airport's Abby Gate, the other near the Baron hotel.
Images released from the area have shown bloodied Afghans rushing injured parties in wheelbarrows.
© AFP / Wakil KOHSARMedical staff bring an injured man for treatment after two explosions outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021.
Reuters cited an unnamed US official claiming that initial reports suggest the blast at the Abby Gate is
believed to have been caused by a suicide bomber.
A Taliban spokesman also told the news agency that the assault
killed at least 13 people outside the airport, including children, and injured many others.
Taliban guards were among those who were hurt by the blast, the official added. Later, an emergency hospital in Kabul said
at least 60 injured people were transported for treatment.
Confirmation of the explosion follows officials warning that the airport could be a potential target for an attack as thousands have journeyed there in an effort to catch an evacuation flight.
"The longer we stay, starting with the acute and growing risk of an attack by a terrorist group known as ISIS-K, an ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan -
which is the sworn enemy of the Taliban as well - every day we're on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both US and Allied forces and innocent civilians," US President Joe Biden warned this week.
Comment: Just prior to the attack, western governments were warning about the possibility of an attack at the airport by
ISIS-K (ISIS in Khorasan, Afghanistan). According to a Taliban official, they were the ones who alerted NATO forces about the "
imminent" suicide bomb attack:
Zabihullah Mujahid, who holds the office of Information Minister in the Taliban-installed government in Afghanistan, told the Russian media that his organization was the source of the information. The threat was not specific, he said in an interview, but the plan was to provoke chaos and violence at the airport and hurt the Taliban's reputation.
"Over the last 20 years we have learned things and changed," the official said in the interview. "We want to prove that we are not what anti-Taliban propaganda has portrayed us to be. We want to show that to the world."
"Multiple" U.S. service members were
killed (so far 4 Marines confirmed, 3 wounded).
UPDATE:
The above were apparently controlled detonations.
UPDATE: The death toll currently stands at
170, very close to the report from Amaq claiming responsibility. Close to 200 wounded. Thirteen U.S. troops were killed, along with
at least 28 Taliban members. Despite initial reports of two explosions, the Pentagon claims there was only
one bomber, and no explosion near the Baron Hotel. General Taylor says the media report of that explosion was false.
An Afghan witness to the bombing shared his observations
with RT:
"When the explosion happened, we fell from the wall on the footpath. There were lots of people [there] so we fell on them. And when we fell on them, the effect of that explosion just came to us," he said. "Our eyes were full of tears. And also we couldn't breathe, like there was no oxygen for 30 or 40 seconds."
The powerful blast was unlike anything Ahmadzai had witnessed in the more than 20 years that his family lived in Kabul, he said. People panicked, both the Afghans outside and the guards inside. The Americans "started shooting," he said, adding that he believed some people in the crowd got shot by the US troops in those initial moments of confusion.
As terrified people fled for their lives, a stampede started, and Ahmadzai got separated from his aunt's family, he said. He fell on the ground when his foot got stuck in something, but luckily his shoe came off and he managed to get to the wall again and climb up. Then he finally managed to circle back and find his relatives, who he feared could have been trampled to death by the crowd.
Comment: Just prior to the attack, western governments were warning about the possibility of an attack at the airport by ISIS-K (ISIS in Khorasan, Afghanistan). According to a Taliban official, they were the ones who alerted NATO forces about the "imminent" suicide bomb attack: "Multiple" U.S. service members were killed (so far 4 Marines confirmed, 3 wounded).
UPDATE:
The above were apparently controlled detonations.
UPDATE: The death toll currently stands at 170, very close to the report from Amaq claiming responsibility. Close to 200 wounded. Thirteen U.S. troops were killed, along with at least 28 Taliban members. Despite initial reports of two explosions, the Pentagon claims there was only one bomber, and no explosion near the Baron Hotel. General Taylor says the media report of that explosion was false.
An Afghan witness to the bombing shared his observations with RT: