More than 90 people were killed, including at least 13 U.S. service members and 77 Afghans, at the Kabul airport Thursday when two blasts ripped through crowds trying to enter the American-controlled facility, disrupting the final push of the U.S.-led evacuation effort.
A suicide bomb attack at the airport’s Abbey Gate was followed by an assault by gunmen, officials said. Another bomb attack took place nearby, at a hotel outside the airport, officials said. Eighteen U.S. service members were injured, the Pentagon said.
Nine point BBC summary
- There have been twin bomb attacks at Kabul airport targeting people desperate to flee the country after the Taliban takeover
- More than 90 people have died – among them civilians and 13 US military personnel
- US Central Command General Frank McKenzie said the US were bracing for more attacks on the airport
- US President Joe Biden, speaking at the White House, vowed to evacuate people fleeing Afghanistan until a 31 August deadline
- He also vowed that the US would hunt down those behind the attacks and make them pay
- Explosions took place outside the Abbey Gate – where US and British forces have been stationed – and at a nearby hotel
- The attack came after warnings there could be militant attacks, as nations evacuate people ahead of a 31 August deadline
- Canada has joined several European nations in wrapping up evacuation operations. UK PM Boris Johnson says the attack is “despicable” but it will not interrupt the UK’s operation
- Huge crowds of people have also built up at Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan as people try to flee Taliban rule