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Medical sources said that at least 60 people were killed in a bomb blast outside Kabul Airport in the ISIL’s alleged attack.
Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked hordes of Afghans at Kabul Airport, turning desperate scenes into horror scenes in the coming days of airlifting for those fleeing the Taliban’s takeover.
Medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 60 people were killed and dozens more were injured in the explosion on Thursday.
Among the dead were dozens of civilians and 12 American soldiers.
Here is what we currently know:
what happened?
Two explosions occurred outside Kabul Airport. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that an explosion occurred near the entrance to the monastery gate at the airport.
One of the bombers attacked an Afghan standing knee-deep in a sewer in the sweltering sun and threw the body into the foul-smelling water.
The second explosion occurred at or near the Baron Hotel. Many people, including Afghans, British and Americans, were told to gather in recent days and then evacuated to the airport.
The Taliban’s occupation of Kabul on August 15 triggered the flight of foreign nationals and workers, as well as the flight of Afghans who cooperated with foreign troops and groups to the airport.
Who was behind the attack?
The organization’s Amak News Agency stated on its telegram channel that the Islamic State of IS (ISIS) organization has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The branch of ISIL in Afghanistan, known as the Islamic State of Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), opposes Western countries and the Taliban. The Taliban recently took control of the country in a blitzkrieg and condemned the attack .
ISKP members have links to well-known branches of the organization in Syria and Iraq. They have launched a series of brutal attacks, mainly against the Shiite Muslim minority in Afghanistan, including the 2020 attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul. They are in the attack Killing women and babies.
After two strong explosions outside Kabul Airport, volunteers and medical staff sent an injured man to treatment [Wakil Kohsar/AFP]death toll
Within hours of the explosion, a Taliban official and Russian official stated that at least 13 people were killed in the explosion and several others were injured.
Late Thursday, medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 60 people were killed in the explosion. Media quoted reports from Afghan officials confirming that at least 60 Afghan civilians were killed in the attack and more than 140 Afghans were injured.
The Pentagon confirmed that at least 12 American soldiers were killed in the attack and 15 other soldiers were injured.
Was the attack unexpected?
On Wednesday and overnight, the capitals of Western countries issued a warning that ISIL was facing a threat, and ISIL’s power was elevated due to the release of prisoners by the Taliban during their transit through Afghanistan.
Late Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy warned citizens at three airport gates to leave immediately due to unspecified security threats. Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand also advised their citizens not to go to the airport on Thursday.
Western officials warned of a major attack and urged people to leave the airport, but in the final days of the U.S.-led evacuation before the U.S. officially ended its 20-year existence, Afghans desperate to flee the country largely ignored the suggestion . August 31.
evacuation
With warnings and the imminent withdrawal of the United States, Canada ended its evacuation, and several European countries stopped or prepared to stop their own operations.
But Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said some planes will continue to fly.
“The evacuation in Kabul will not end within 36 hours. We will continue to evacuate as many people as possible until the end of the mission,” he said in a tweet.
The Taliban have stated that they will allow Afghans to leave on commercial flights after the deadline of August 31 next week, but it is not clear which airlines will return to the airport controlled by the organization.
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