Suicide bombing and several explosions rock Kabul amid evacuations: at least 13 dead



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The Pentagon press secretary, John Kirby, said the explosion it was the result of a “complex attack” which left several dead, including Americans. The detonation was followed by gunfire.

He also confirmed that there had been at least one other explosion near the Hotel Baron.

https://twitter.com/PentagonPresSec/status/1430888975917453313

According to initial reports, a suicide bomber detonated in the middle of the line of thousands waiting to enter the airport and take one of the Western Powers’ evacuation flights.

Among the wounded are American soldiers, who are taking part in operations at Kabul airport, and British citizens, Reuters and The Guardian have confirmed.

The American President, Joe biden, has already been informed of what happened, said the White House. The US embassy in Kabul has ordered its citizens to leave the area following the reports.

Two more explosions were reported at the Baron Hotel, where Afghan diplomats and refugees were to be evacuated by the UK.

https://twitter.com/BrowneGareth/status/1430887830264246281

In an alert issued Wednesday evening, the United States Embassy in Kabul advised citizens to avoid going to the airport and said those already at the gates should leave immediately, citing Unspecified “security threats”.

In a similar opinion, UK asked people to stay away from the airport area. His Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said intelligence on a possible suicide bombing by the militia of the Islamic State had become “much more authoritarian”.

“I cannot stress enough how desperate the situation is. The threat is believable, it is imminent, it is deadly. We wouldn’t say that if we weren’t really anxious to offer ISIS a simply unimaginable target, ”Heappey told BBC radio.

A Western diplomat in Kabul said areas outside the airport gates were again “incredibly crowded” despite the warnings.

Australia also issued a warning to keep people away from the airport, while Belgium has put an end to its evacuation operations due to the danger of an attack.

The warnings came amid a chaotic backdrop in Kabul and its airport, where there has been a massive airlift of foreign nationals and their families, as well as some Afghans, since the city was captured by the Taliban on August 15, culminating a meteoric advance across the country. when US and Allied troops withdrew.

The Taliban, whose fighters guard the outer perimeter of the airport, are enemies of the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, known as Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), in reference to an ancient name for the region.

“Our guards are also risking their lives at Kabul airport, they are also threatened by the Islamic State group,” said a Taliban official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Ahmedullah Rafiqzai, a civil aviation official at the airport, said people continued to congregate around the gates despite the attack warnings.

“People do not want to move, their determination to leave this country is such that they are not even afraid of dying,” he told Reuters.

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