As many as 40 believed dead in Kabul airport explosions

AT LEAST 40 people are believed to have died in the bombings at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, including children

It has been confirmed that among the dead in the explosions that occurred at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport earlier today, Thursday, August 26, were four US Marines, amid reports of 40 people being killed in the blasts, including children, and the gates to the airport have been subsequently closed off by US troops.

Reports are conflicting, with US sources saying 13 are dead, while a Taliban source claimed as many as 40 had been killed.

John Kirby, the spokesman for the Pentagon said, ‘We can confirm that the explosion at the Abbey Gate was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US and civilian casualties. 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”.

UK Prime Minister has reportedly called an emergency COBRA meeting, while Joe Biden is reported to be in the Situation Room with his chiefs of staff.

US officials have said they believe that the ISIS-Khorsasan (ISIS-K) terrorist group – which is a force in opposition to the Taliban – was responsible for the two attacks, only hours after intelligence sources had warned of an imminent ISIS attack, with Westerners being told to avoid the airport.

According to unnamed government sources cited by both Politico and Fox News, a suicide bomber wearing a vest blew himself up at just before 6.30pm local Afghan time, outside the Baron Hotel in the city, that was being used to house Westerners who were waiting to be evacuated out of Afghanistan, with gunfire being heard immediately after the blast.

A second explosion followed shortly after, this time at the airport’s Abbey Gate, allegedly caused by a car bomb, where crowds of Afhgans had been congregating for more than a week hoping to get on one of the flights that were leaving.

There are still flights leaving the airport but now it is thought plans might chance and that countries will call a halt to their evacuations, with many NATO member countries already saying they will stop at midnight tonight, including Angela Merkel, who had originally said Germany would stay on beyond the August 31 deadline, as reported by dailymail.co.uk.

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