A large explosion rocked Kabul airport Thursday, the Pentagon said, causing a number of casualties after Western nations warned of an imminent terror threat and as thousands of people gathered hoping for a flight out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
We can confirm that the explosion near the Abbey Gate of the Kabul airport has resulted in an unknown number of casualties,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a tweet. US President Joe Biden had earlier cited an “acute” terrorist threat from the regional chapter of the Islamic State jihadist group.
An AFP journalist in Kabul saw a plume of smoke rising into the sky from a site near the airport. When people heard the explosion there was total panic. The Taliban then started firing in the air to disperse the crowd at the gate,” a witness told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“I saw a man rushing with an injured baby in his hands. The US government and its allies had raised the alarm earlier in the day with a series of advisories warning their citizens to avoid the airport.
No specifics were given in the terror advisories, but Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo referred to a threat from suicide bombers.
London also issued a warning to its citizens, saying “if you can leave Afghanistan safely by other means, you should do so immediately. Several people have died in the chaos around the airport in recent days. Despite the harrowing scenes, the Taliban have ruled out any extension to next Tuesday’s deadline to pull out foreign troops, describing it as “a red line
Source: eNCA
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