Two explosions went off outside the Kabul airport on Thursday, killing at least 40 people and injuring more than 120 others, as per sources in the Afghanistan health ministry. According to the latest reports, four US Marines were killed and three others were wounded in the attack.
"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. 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," says Pentagon.
Thousands of people have gathered outside the airport in a bid to flee the country on Western airlift since the Taliban seized power earlier this month.
Even as the area was hit, the official said evacuation flights continued to take off from Kabul airport, which Western governments earlier warned was a target.
US and allied officials have said they had intelligence that suicide bombers were threatening to attack the airport, Pentagon said.
The US Embassy in Kabul issued an alert asking American citizens to "avoid traveling to the airport and avoid airport gates", following an explosion outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Thursday. The French envoy, too, warned its citizens to leave the area urgently.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the explosion, according to a White House official. Biden was in a meeting with security officials about the situation in Afghanistan, where the United States is in the final steps of ending its 20-year war, when the explosion was first reported, according to a person familiar with the matter.
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