Multiple explosions outside the Kabul airport Thursday resulted in “a number of U.S. and civilian casualties” as the U.S. is working to rapidly evacuate Americans and Afghan allies from Afghanistan, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday. Fox News reported at least three U.S. Marines are among the injured.
“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,” Pentagon press secretary John 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.”
Biden postpones Israeli PM meeting to monitor Kabul explosions
President Joe Biden met with his national security team this morning, including Secretary Antony Blinken, Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and commanders on the ground regarding the latest developments in Kabul, according to the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is traveling from Southeast Asia, virtually met with Biden and the national security team in the Situation Room meeting earlier Thursday.
Biden was scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the White House for the new leader’s first foreign trip since taking office in June. The meeting has been postponed but White House officials gave no indication of whether it would be rescheduled for later Thursday.
The president’s virtual meeting with a bipartisan group of governors who offered to temporarily house or help resettle Afghans has also been canceled, according to the White House.
Intelligence official: U.S. operating under assumption that attacks were ISIS-K
U.S. intelligence officials are operating under the assumption that the attacks at Kabul airport Thursday were carried out by ISIS-K, given their motive and general threat intelligence received in recent weeks and days.
A senior U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the intelligence community has made no specific or formal attribution that the attacks were ISIS-K, noting “it’s certainly something that they would gain a lot from from doing.”
“This is a perfect opportunity for them to stick it to the Taliban, stick it to us and gain a national stage to show that they’re there, as terrorist groups will want to do,” the official noted.
The official also said he could not discuss the particulars of the intelligence that led the Biden administration to urge Americans to evacuate the airport, but said those warnings from the State Department and White House were prompted by recently gathered information provided by the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies.
Hospital in Kabul reports 30 wounded people in treatment; six dead upon arrival
An emergency hospital in Kabul says 30 people wounded in two explosions near Kabul’s international airport arrived for treatment on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal and TOLO News, an Afghan broadcaster.
Of those taken by the hospital, six were dead on arrival. The Pentagon earlier confirmed “a number of U.S. and civilian casualties” as a result of the two explosions.
U.S. official: Attack at Kabul airport ‘definitely believed’ to have been Islamic State
A U.S. official says the complex attack outside Kabul airport is “definitely believed” to have been carried out by the Islamic State group.
The official says members of the U.S. military were wounded in Thursday’s attack, which involved two suicide bombers and gunmen.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations. The Islamic State group is more radical than the Taliban and has carried out a wave of attacks targeting civilians.
The official says evacuation flights have continued to take off from Kabul airport in the waning days of an airlift to help people flee the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Pentagon confirms ‘unknown number of casualties’ after Kabul airport explosion
Pentagon press Secretary John Kirby confirmed there was “an unknown number of casualties” resulting from an explosion at the Abbey Gate of Kabul’s international airport Thursday.
All gates at Hamid Karzai International Airport have since been shut down, according to a Department of Defense official.
