Kabul airport hit by two bombs in ‘complex attack,’ dozens dead
SMA NEWS – KABUL
The US military confirmed two large explosions Thursday outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, where the United States and other countries have been evacuating tens of thousands of people.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said there were “a number” of US and civilian casualties in the bombings, which came just hours after western officials said they had intelligence that suicide bombings were planned against the airport.
“We can confirm that the explosion at the Abbey Gate was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US & civilian casualties,” Kirby said in a tweeted statement.
“We can also confirm at least one other explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate,” he said.
A surgical hospital run by an Italian charity said it was treating more than 60 wounded, with at least six people reported as being killed in the attack.
US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the explosion, according to a White House official. Biden was in a meeting with security officials about the situation in Afghanistan when the explosion was first reported, according to a person familiar with the matter.
One of the explosions happened at the airport’s main Abbey Gate, where thousands of people have massed over the past 12 days hoping to be evacuated after the militants seized power, and an unconfirmed death toll of 13 people including children was given by a Taliban official.
Other reports located the second explosion close to the Baron Hotel near the gate, which Western nations had used to stage some evacuations.
An AFP journalist in Kabul saw a plume of smoke rising into the sky from a site near the airport.
US and allied officials have said they had intelligence that suicide bombers tied to the Afghan arm of Daesh — the so-called Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) — were threatening to attack the airport ahead of Washington’s August 31 deadline to finalize the evacuation.
The Taliban, whose fighters are guarding the perimeter outside the airport, are enemies of the affiliate.
