At least 20 killed in twin suicide blasts near Kabul airport, IS hand suspected

The death toll could be as high as 20, a spokesman for the Taliban said. “Our initial information shows between 13 and 20 killed and 52 wounded,” chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. A surgical hospital run by an Italian charity said it was treating more than 60 wounded. A US official said the complex attack was “definitely believed” to have been carried out by the Islamic State group. However, several media reports said 40 people were killed, but the numbers couldn’t be confirmed.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had initially said 13 people died and 15 were wounded. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby also confirmed the blasts, saying one was near an airport entrance and another was a short distance away by a hotel. Several Marines were killed and a number of other American military were wounded, a US official said. It was not clear if those deaths were included in the Russian toll.

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. One explosion went off in a crowd of people waiting to enter the airport, according to Adam Khan, an Afghan waiting nearby. He said several people appeared to have been killed or wounded, including some who lost body parts. Already, some countries have ended their evacuations and begun to withdraw their soldiers and diplomats, signalling the beginning of the end of one of history’s largest airlifts. The Taliban have pledged not to attack Western forces during the evacuation, but insist the foreign troops must be out by America’s self-imposed deadline of August 31.