LIVE: Pentagon says Kabul attack carried out by one suicide bomber

Afghanistan terror attack LIVE updates: Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds flocking to Kabul airport, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

Kabul terror attack LIVE: US President Joe Biden has said that he will avenge the twin bombings at the Kabul airport that have killed at least 103 people, including 13 American service member, adding the ongoing evacuation in Afghanistan will continue uninterrupted. "We will respond with force and precision in our time, in a place we choose in a manner of our choosing," Biden said when delivering remarks from the White House late Thursday, following the bombings at the Hamid Karzai International Airport earlier in the day.

After the twin blasts at Kabul Airport, another explosion was reported in Kabul, according to reports. The Islamic State Islamic State has officially claimed responsibility for the Kabul airport attack.

Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul's airport, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.

Western officials had warned of a major attack, urging people to leave the airport, but that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country in the last few days of an American-led evacuation before the US officially ends its 20-year presence on Aug. 31.

Meanwhile, France's prime minister says his country will no longer be able to evacuate people from Kabul airport after Friday night.

Stay tuned for the latest news of the day.

To read updates from yesterday's blog, click here

8:37 PM

Pentagon now says only one blast hit Kabul

The Pentagon said that despite earlier reports to the contrary, there was only one explosion that rocked the perimeter of Kabul’s airport on Thursday, not two. 

 

Army Major General William Taylor told reporters that officials now believe there was only one suicide bomber, adding that “very dynamic events” like those on Thursday often lead to some information being reported.

5:22 PM

'Vast majority of Indians who wish to return have been evacuated'

4:53 PM

We've evacuated over 550 people in 6 separate flights: MEA

4:43 PM

About 12,500 people evacuated from Afghanistan on Thursday: White House

About 12,500 people were evacuated from Afghanistan on Thursday, raising the total evacuees since the Taliban took over on Aug. 14 to about 105,000, the White House said on Friday.

 

About 5,000 of those were evacuated on Thursday evening, according to the White House tallies.

1:30 PM

Albania gets 1st Afghan evacuees after deadly Kabul blasts

Albania on Friday housed its first group of Afghan evacuees who made it out of their country despite days of chaos near the Kabul airport, including an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

 

A government statement said an Egyptian Almasria Universal Airlines plane landed at the Tirana international airport at 3:20 a.m. (01:20 GMT) carrying 121 people, including 11 children. It was not clear whether this was the first flight after the two suicide bombings in Kabul that killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 American troops, or if the plane that landed in Albania's capital had come directly from Afghanistan.

 

It was the fear from such attacks which pushed us our utmost that these citizens come soonest to Albania, where they are away from danger and fear for their lives, Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka said. She and U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim were at the airport to greet the evacuees.

 

12:50 PM

Kabul residents struggle to fulfil basic needs, running out of cash, reports ANI

Days after the Taliban took over the war-torn country, the residents of Kabul are reeling from a cash shortage as the banks are closed and ATMs are running out of money.

 

Most of the ATMs are running out of money in the capital city and people have to wait for hours out the money in recent days, reported The Washington Post.

 

Earlier on Wednesday morning, the Taliban ordered to reopen the banks but the residents said that most of the bank doors remained closed. The long queues were formed outside the banks but the residents were not sure whether the bank doors were actually opened or just ATM service was available.

 

"People are running out of cash, and everyone is waiting for banks to reopen," one doctor in the capital said on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. Read on...

12:35 PM

Britain to end evacuations from Afghanistan 'in a matter of hours', reports AFP

Britain to end evacuations from Afghanistan 'in a matter of hours'; Spain to end evacuations from Kabul on Friday: AFP

12:21 PM

Afghanistan crisis LIVE: Evacuation flights resume in Kabul after deadly bombings

Evacuation flights from Afghanistan have resumed with new urgency a day after two suicide bombings targeted the thousands of desperate people fleeing the Taliban takeover.

 

The US says further attempted attacks are expected ahead of the Tuesday deadline for foreign troops to leave, ending America's longest war.

Kabul residents said several flights took off Friday morning.

 

Thursday's bombings near Kabul's international airport killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 US troops, Afghan and US officials said, in the deadliest day for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since August 2011. In an emotional speech, President Joe Biden blamed the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate, far more radical than the Taliban militants who seized power less than two weeks ago.

11:57 AM

Talks over TAPI pipeline gather steam with Taliban at the helm

With the Taliban spokespersons in Afghanistan talking favourably on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, expectations of it coming closer to India have grown. The TAPI pipeline is among the three transnational pipelines that have been on the drawing board for long.

 

These can assist in India's quest for a gas-based economy, even though transnational pipelines are difficult to plan and harder to implement.

 

“The TAPI project had regained steam a few years ago, but there has been an eerie silence from India on this front lately. It seems the government wants to see if the Taliban are really serious about this project and what form of governance they adopt. Whether they want and are eligible to do business with India is something that requires a wait-and-watch approach,” a former Indian government official told Business Standard. Read on...

11:19 AM

IS-K has links with Taliban, Haqqani network, says Amrullah Saleh

The self-proclaimed 'caretaker' President of the Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh on Friday said that the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-K) has links with the Taliban and the Haqqani network, particularly the ones operating in Kabul.

 

Saleh also hit out at the Taliban for denying links with the Islamic State terror group (ISIS) and said that it is similar to the denial of Pakistan on Quetta Shura.

 

"Every evidence we have in hand shows that IS-K cells have their roots in Talibs & Haqqani network particularly the ones operating in Kabul. Talibs denying links with ISIS is identical/similar to the denial of Pakistan on Quetta Shura. Talibs have learned very well from the master. #Kabul," Saleh said in a tweet.

11:03 AM

Kabul attacks reinforce need for world to stand unitedly against terrorism: India to UNSC

Strongly condemning the terrorist strikes in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, India has told the UN Security Council that these attacks reinforce the need for the world to stand unitedly against terrorism and all those who provide sanctuaries to terrorists.

 

Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul's airport on Thursday, killing at least 60 Afghans and 13 US troops.

 

Let me begin by strongly condemning the terrorist attack in Kabul. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of this terrorist attack, India's Permanent Representative to the UN and President of the Security Council Ambassador T S Tirumurti said on Thursday.

 

Speaking in the UNSC briefing on Ethiopia, Tirumurti said the attacks in Kabul reinforce the need for the world to stand unitedly against terrorism and all those who provide sanctuaries to terrorists.

10:47 AM

Trump extends condolences on death of US service members in Kabul

Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) extended condolences to the families of United States service members who died in an explosion at Kabul airport in Afghanistan.

 

Issuing a statement, Trump said that the attack should have never been allowed to happen.

 

"Melania and I send our deepest condolences to the families of our brilliant Service Members whose duty to the USA meant so much to them," Trump said in a statement adding that "our thoughts are also with the families of the innocent civilians who died today in the savage Kabul attack."

 

"This tragedy should have never been allowed to happen, which makes our grief even deeper and more difficult to understand," he continued.

 

"May God bless the U.S.A."

10:41 AM

Afghanistan crisis LIVE updates: US soldier loses 1 Afghanistan translator; fights to save another

The two men risked their lives together nearly a decade ago trying to eliminate the Taliban, dodging bullets and forever bonding in a way that can only be forged in war.

 

Now the American soldier and his Afghan translator were together again in Germany, shopping for a suit.

 

Abdulhaq Sodais's future hinges on an asylum hearing in a German court after he was denied a US visa, and US Army Veteran Spencer Sullivan was there to help him prepare.

 

Together, they watched videos from Sodais' hometown: The crackle of gunfire, dead bodies being carted off as black smoke billowed. Once US troops withdrew, the fragile government built over years by people like Sodais and Sullivan collapsed in just days.

 

I couldn't stop crying, Sodais said.

 

My father said the Taliban were knocking on every single door in Herat looking for guys who worked for the coalition forces.

 

Sullivan already lost another translator, Sayed Masoud, who was killed by the Taliban while waiting for a US visa.

 

It's a scar Sullivan carries deeply, the realisation that the US government is capable of the one thing he never believed: betrayal. READ ON...

10:12 AM

Afghanistan terror attack LIVE: Joe Biden vows retribution as death toll rises to 103 in Kabul attacks

US President Joe Biden has said that he will avenge the twin bombings at the Kabul airport that have killed at least 103 people, including 13 American service member, adding the ongoing evacuation in Afghanistan will continue uninterrupted.

 

The number of US service members killed in the attacks has risen to 13, with 18 more injured troops currently in the process of being flown out of the country, according to the latest update by Bill Urban, public affairs officer of the US Central Command.

 

"We will respond with force and precision in our time, in a place we choose in a manner of our choosing," Biden said when delivering remarks from the White House late Thursday, following the bombings at the Hamid Karzai International Airport earlier in the day.

10:02 AM

US evacuates 7,500 people in last 24 hours from Afghanistan: White House

Amid chaos and mayhem, the US on Thursday (local time) evacuated 7,500 people from Afghanistan after a twin blast rocked Kabul airport and Baron Hotel that killed 13 US troops and injured an additional 15 service members as well as numerous Afghan civilians.

 

"From August 26 at 3:00 AM EDT to August 26 at 3:00 PM EDT, a total of approximately 7,500 people were evacuated from Kabul. This is the result of 14 US military flights (13 C-17s and 1 C-130) which carried approximately 5,100 evacuees and 39 coalition flights which carried 2,400 people," stated a White House official.