KABUL, Afghanistan —
Two suicide attacks outside Kabul’s airport have killed at least 13 people and wounded another 15, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed that there had been two attacks.
“We can confirm that the explosion at the Abbey Gate [at Kabul airport] was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US & civilian casualties,” Kirby tweeted. “We can also confirm at least one other explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate. We will continue to update.”
A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations said the attack was “definitely believed” to have been carried out by the Islamic State group, whose affiliate in Afghanistan grew out of disaffected Taliban members who hold an even more extreme view of Islam.
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The official said members of the U.S. military were among the wounded.
Even as the area was hit, the official said evacuation flights continued to take off from Kabul airport, which Western governments earlier had warned was a target.
Thousands of Afghans have gathered at the airport in recent days in hopes of joining evacuation flights by the U.S. and its allies after the Taliban takeover of the country.
Smoke rises from explosion outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(Wali Sabawoon/Associated Press)
Western nations had warned earlier in the day of a possible attack at the airport in the waning days of their massive airlift. Suspicion for any attack would likely fall on the Islamic State group and not the Taliban, which has deployed fighters at the airport’s gates to try to control the mass of people.
Adam Khan, an Afghan waiting outside the airport, said an explosion went off in a crowd of people waiting to enter. Khan, who said he was standing about 30 yards away, said several people appeared to have been killed or wounded, including some who lost body parts.
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Several countries had urged people to avoid the airport, where one official said there was a threat of a suicide bombing. But just days — or even hours for some nations — before the evacuation effort ends, few appeared to heed the call.
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Over the last week, the airport has been the scene of some of the most searing images of the chaotic end of America’s longest war and the Taliban’s takeover, as flight after flight took off carrying those who fear a return to the militants’ brutal rule.
Already, some countries have ended their evacuations and begun to withdraw their soldiers and diplomats, signaling the beginning of the end of one of history’s largest airlifts. The Taliban have so far honored a pledge not to attack Western forces during the evacuation, but insist that foreign troops must be out by the United States’ self-imposed deadline of Aug. 31.
Overnight, warnings emerged from Western capitals about a threat from Afghanistan’s Islamic State group affiliate, which likely has seen its ranks boosted by the Taliban’s freeing of prisoners during their blitz across the country.
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British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey told the BBC on Thursday there was ”very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack” at the airport, possibly within “hours.” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said his country had received information from the U.S. and other countries about the “threat of suicide attacks on the mass of people.”
The acting U.S. ambassador to Kabul, Ross Wilson, said the security threat at the Kabul airport overnight was “clearly regarded as credible, as imminent, as compelling.” But in an interview with ABC News, he would not give details and did not say whether the threat remained.
Wilson also said there remain “safe ways” for Americans to reach the airport, but “there undoubtedly will be” Afghans who had worked with or for the U.S. in Afghanistan who will not be able to get out before the evacuation ends.
Late Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy warned citizens at three airport gates to leave immediately because of an unspecified security threat. Australia, Britain and New Zealand also advised their citizens Thursday not to go to the airport, with Australia’s foreign minister saying there was a “very high threat of a terrorist attack.”
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Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that any attack was imminent. “It’s not correct,” he wrote in a text message after being asked about the warnings. He did not elaborate.
Earlier Thursday, the Taliban sprayed a water cannon at those gathered at one airport gate to try to drive the crowd away and someone launched tear gas canisters elsewhere. While some fled, others just sat on the ground, covered their faces and waited in the noxious fumes.
Nadia Sadat, a 27-year-old Afghan, carried her 2-year-old daughter outside the airport. She and her husband, who had worked with coalition forces, missed a call from a number they believed was the State Department and were trying to get into the airport, without any luck. Her husband had pressed ahead in the crowd to try to get them inside.
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“We have to find a way to evacuate because our lives are in danger,” Sadat said. “My husband received several threatening messages from unknown sources. We have no chance except escaping.”
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Gunshots later echoed in the area as Sadat waited. “There is anarchy because of immense crowds,” she said, blaming the U.S. for the chaos.
Aman Karimi, 50, escorted his daughter and her family to the airport, fearful the Taliban would target her because of her husband’s work with NATO.
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“The Taliban have already begun seeking those who have worked with NATO,” he said. “They are looking for them house by house at night.”
Senior U.S. officials said Wednesday’s warning from the embassy was related to specific threats involving the Islamic State group and potential vehicle bombs. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing military operations.
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The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan has carried out a series of brutal attacks, mainly targeting Afghanistan’s Shiite Muslim minority, including a 2020 assault on a maternity hospital in Kabul in which they killed women and infants.
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The Taliban has fought against Islamic State militants in Afghanistan. But Islamic State fighters were likely freed from prisons along with other inmates during the Taliban’s rapid advance. Extremists may have seized heavy weapons and equipment abandoned by Afghan troops.
Amid the warnings and the pending U.S. withdrawal, Canada ended its evacuations, and European nations halted or prepared to stop their own operations.
“The reality on the ground is the perimeter of the airport is closed. The Taliban have tightened the noose. It’s very, very difficult for anybody to get through at this point,” said Canadian Gen. Wayne Eyre, the country’s acting chief of defense staff.