Two blasts outside Kabul airport; 15 injured, 13 dead

Dhaka: Two explosions have gone off today outside Kabul Airport killing at least 13 people and injuring 15 as large crowds gathered outside the airport in an attempt to flee the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry made the announcement while US officials said that American personnel were wounded in the blast, without elaborating.

The blasts happened outside the airport, where thousands of Afghans have gathered hoping to join a US-led airlift after the Taliban takeover.

Western nations had warned earlier in the day of a possible attack at the airport in the waning days of a massive airlift.

Suspicion for any attack targeting the crowds would likely fall on the Islamic State group and not the Taliban, who have been deployed at the airport’s gates trying to control the mass of people.

The Pentagon confirmed the blast, and Russian Foreign Ministry gave the official casualty count.

The explosion went off in a crowd of people waiting to enter the airport. Several people appeared to have been killed or wounded, including some who lost body parts.

Several countries urged people to avoid the airport earlier in the day, with one saying there was a threat of a suicide bombing. But just days — or even hours for some nations — before the evacuation effort ends, few appeared to heed the call.

Over the last week, the airport has been the scene of some of the most searing images of the chaotic end of America’s longest war and the Taliban’s takeover, as flight after flight took off carrying those who fear a return to the militants’ brutal rule.

Already, some countries have ended their evacuations and begun to withdraw their soldiers and diplomats, signaling 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.

Overnight, warnings emerged from Western capitals about a threat from Afghanistan’s Islamic State group affiliate, which likely has seen its ranks boosted by the Taliban’s freeing of prisoners during their blitz across the country.

A while later, the blast was reported.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that any attack was imminent in the wake of those warnings.