Kabul airport attack death toll nears 100
Kabul, Aug 27 (EFE).- At least 95 people have been killed and 150 injured in Thursday’s double suicide attack on the Kabul airport carried out by the Islamic State terror group, officials said on Friday.
The number of victims was confirmed to EFE by an official source on the condition of anonymity, who said that he could not divulge more details due to the “sensitivity” of the matter.
The source did not clarify if the casualty figures included the 13 United States soldiers killed in the attack and 18 other US troops who were wounded close to the airport, so that the death toll could climb above 100.
The double suicide bombing took place on Thursday, days after governments of several countries had warned of the possibility of attacks at the airport, where thousands of people had thronged to try and board evacuation flights since the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital on Aug. 15.
The explosions took place on Thursday evening, and soon images of dozens of blood-soaked and dismembered bodies in a canal close to the airport began circulating on social media.
Civilians had been trying for days to get past security forces and enter the airport to try and flee the country.
Hours later, the Afghan arm of the IS claimed the attack, although it assumed responsibility for just one of the explosions, which was carried out by one of its fighters who passed unnoticed through the security checks of the US forces and Taliban militia around the capital.
Taliban’s main spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid strongly condemned the “attack on civilians” at the Kabul airport, although stressing that it had taken place in an area where the US forces were in-charge of security.
This is the first attack of its kind since the Taliban took control of the country on Aug. 15 after taking over Kabul, and comes in spite of rigorous security checks installed by the Islamists around the city.
On Friday, a number of countries, including Spain and Australia, announced the end of their evacuation operations in Kabul. EFE
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