Pentagon: Kabul attack done by only one bomber

WASHINGTON/LONDON: The US department of defence on Friday said there was only one explosion at the Kabul airport attack that killed more than 100 people, including 13 American troops.

“We do not believe that there was a second explosion at or near Baron hotel. It was one suicide bomber,” major general Hank Taylor told reporters. “We’re not sure how that report was provided incorrectly, but we do know it’s not any surprise... we felt it was important to correct the record.”

There were reports on Thursday of two explosions at the Kabul airport and that two suicide bombers were involved.

One of them reportedly took place at Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport, and the other was said to have happened near Baron Hotel, which is close by.

Taylor pointed out that the exact details of the terror attack were still being collected.

What is known for certain so far is that there was one suicide bomber with an IED (improvised explosive device) and that there was “enemy gunfire”, but the US general said that there was still no clarity about the number of shooters involved.

US military has warned of more attacks in the future. “We’ve been talking about this for several days. We saw it actually manifests itself in last few hours, with an actual attack,” said Kenneth F McKenzie Jr, commander of the United States Central Command on Thursday. He had said, “We believe that is their desire to continue those attacks. And we expect those attacks to continue.”

The United States has evacuated about 12,500 people from Kabul since Thursday, the White House said in an update. About 8,500 were carried on 35 US military flights (29 C-17s and six C-130s) and the remainder were on board 54 coalition flights. Since August 14, the US has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of about 105,000 people, the White House further said. The number evacuated since the end of July was about 110,600 people.

UK PM to ‘move heaven and earth’ to back ops

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday that he would do his utmost to help any people in Afghanistan who are eligible for resettlement but who the British armed forces are unable to evacuate from airport.

“As we come down to the final hours of the operation, there will also be people who haven’t got through, people who might qualify [for resettlement]. What I say to them is that we will shift heaven and earth to help them,” Johnson told reporters.