Australian citizens and visa holders prepare to board the Globemaster III aircraft of the Royal Australian Air Force C-17A, as Australian Army infantry personnel provide security and assistance with cargo on board. Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 22, 2021.
SGT Glen McCarthy | Australian Department of Defense | via Reuters
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon on Thursday confirmed two explosions near Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, which have caused several civilian and American casualties.
An explosion at the airport’s Abbey Gate “was the result of a complex attack that claimed several civilian and American casualties,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. At least one other explosion occurred near the Baron Hotel, not far from Abbey Gate, Kirby said.
The Pentagon has delayed a press session that was initially scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET.
About 5,400 U.S. military personnel are assisting in evacuation efforts in Kabul. The British have about 1,000 troops to assist in evacuation efforts. The UK Ministry of Defense said no casualties were reported between its government and military personnel in Kabul after the attack.
A White House official told NBC News that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the situation.
“The president met Thursday morning with his national security team, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the chairman of the joint chief of staff of U.S. Army General Mark Milley and Kabul ground commanders, “the White House said in a statement.
“Updates will continue to be reported on the evolution of the situation throughout the day,” the statement added.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also been informed of the situation at the airport, a spokesman said.
A meeting scheduled for 11:30 pm ET between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the White House has also been delayed.
The U.S. embassy in Kabul described the blast as “big” and said there were reports of gunfire, urging Americans to avoid traveling to the airport and its gates.
The embassy had previously issued a security alert urging Americans to avoid the airport: “U.S. citizens who are now at the abbey gate, east gate, or north gate should leave immediately, “the alert said.
In the last 24 hours, Western forces evacuated 13,400 people from Kabul on 91 flights of military cargo planes. Since the mass evacuations began on August 14, approximately 95,700 people have been airlifted from Afghanistan.
Since the end of July, some 101,300 people have been evacuated, including about 4,500 American citizens and their families.
An American sailor provides assistance during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Afghanistan, on August 22, 2021.
US Marines Reuters
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday there may be as many as 1,500 Americans in Afghanistan to evacuate, a calculation he explained was “difficult to pinpoint with absolute precision at all times.”
The nation’s top diplomat added that the US is currently “aggressively contacting” nearly 1,000 contacts “several times a day, across multiple channels of communication” to determine if they still want to leave and give them instructions on how to do so. -ho.
Blinken added that the actual number could also be lower.
“The U.S. government does not track U.S. movements as they travel around the world,” Blinken said in his first news conference since the collapse of the Afghan government to the Taliban more than a week ago.
“There could be other Americans in Afghanistan who never enrolled in the embassy, who ignored public evacuation notices and have not yet been identified.”
Biden on Tuesday reiterated to leaders of the G-7, NATO, the United Nations and the European Union that the United States will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan later this month.
The president warned that staying longer in Afghanistan poses serious risks to foreign troops and civilians. Biden said ISIS-K, a subsidiary of the Afghanistan-based terrorist group, poses a growing threat to the airport.
“Every day we are on the ground is another day that we know ISIS-K is trying to head to the airport and attack both Allied forces and innocent civilians,” he said.
The Taliban said Tuesday before the group will stop allowing Afghan citizens to leave the country on evacuation flights or accept an extension of the withdrawal deadline beyond the end of the month.
“We are not in favor of allowing Afghans to leave,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.
“They [the Americans] they have the opportunity, they have all the resources, they can take all the people who belong to them, but we will not allow the Afghans to leave and we will not extend the deadline, “he said. “violation” of a promise by the Biden administration to end the US military mission in the country, Mujahid said.
CNBC’s Spencer Kimball contributed to this report from New York.
This story is unfolding. Please check for updates again.