Kabul Airport Attack: Real Facts We Must Know

A powerful bomb has blasted near the outer perimeter of the Hamid Karzai International Airport of Kabul on Thursday evening, as the Afghan civilians were continuing to try to flee from the country on various flights that are currently being conducted by the United States military from the nation of Afghanistan which is under the control of the Taliban forces in the past recent few weeks. It has been reported that more than 95 individuals were immediately killed in the Kabul airport attack, while 150 individuals were severely wounded due to the sudden explosion.

The Pentagon has confirmed that in the Kabul airport attack, 13 service personnel of the United States military forces have also died. Most of the dead people were Afghan civilians that were trying to escape the country, along with two British nationals and a child belonging to a third British national have been confirmed to have been killed due to the sudden attack.

The twin bomb blast at the international airbase of Kabul has come after the government of the Western countries has given the warning to the Afghan citizens to stay afar from the perimeters of the airport, as they have recently received an imminent threat regarding an attack by the Islamic State group of Afghanistan IS-K.

Later, the local branch of IS-K publicly confirmed that they had carried out the Kabul airport attack, which had caused the death of at least 170 individuals, some of whom died later in the hours after the attack due to extensive injuries.

Occurrence of the blast

The Kabul airport attack happened around 18:00 local time and occurred at the site of the Abbey gate entrance for the airport. On Thursday, it has been reported by the Pentagon that two different bombs were blasted during the Kabul airport attack, and the first one occurred at the Baron Hotel, which is located near the perimeter of the airport, which was being used to house officials from the United Kingdom.

Although the statement was changed later on Friday, it said that only one blast occurred near the entrance gate. According to a senior official from Pentagon, the information they have received regarding the Kabul airport attack had been distorted.

According to Ben Wallace, the Defense Secretary of the United Kingdom, a suicide bomber belonging to the IS-K walked amid the families that had been waiting outside the airport gate before triggering the bomb and destroying numerous lives along with itself.

He said that they think that the Kabul airport attack was carried out by using a suicide vest along with another device that was smaller in size. The attacker was easily able to enter through the perimeter the forces have pushed out just the day before the blast in response to the previously received threat from the Islamist Group.

Prior warning of the attack

The reports received regarding the Kabul airport attack states that some of the victims of the attack were blown with such immense force that they ended up in the sewage canal where the Afghan citizens were standing by to be processed. Soon after the attack, the injured individuals were immediately taken to the Emergency Hospital of Kabul to be treated for the injuries they have suffered from.

Military troops of the United States and British forces deployed in Afghanistan have been positioned to guard the surrounding area of the Abbey Gate into the Kabul airport after the attack.

According to one of the witnesses of the Kabul airport attack, one of the attackers opened fire at the crowd present outside the gate, although according to other reports received stated that the Taliban guards had fired live ammunition in the air, not at the massive crowd of people.

The United States citizens who had already reached the area where the imminent attack by the IS-K was expected were told to evacuate from there and were given prior warning to save their lives.

It was initially believed that about 95 individuals had died soon after the blast, while 150 had been critically injured. Later, the death toll for the Kabul airport attack exceeded 170 as the injured were unable to recover from the severity of the inflicted wounds and expired. Among the injured, 15 individuals belonged to the United States military forces, which were present at the gate for security at the time of the blast.

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