Explosion at Kabul airport kills more than 13, including women and children

Suicide bombers struck the crowded gates of Kabul airport with at least two explosions on Thursday, causing a bloodbath among civilians, killing four U.S. marines and effectively shutting down the Western airlift of Afghans desperate to flee.

There was no complete death toll, but video images uploaded by Afghan journalists showed dozens of bodies of people killed in tightly packed crowds outside the airport.

A watery ditch by the airport fence was filled with bloodsoaked corpses, some being fished out and laid in heaps on the canal side while wailing civilians searched for loved ones.

The Pentagon said "a number" of American service members were killed. Sources said at least four marines were dead and three wounded.

Several Western countries said the airlift of civilians was now effectively over, with the United States having sealed the gates of the airport leaving no way out for tens of thousands of Afghans who worked for the West through two decades of war.

A Taliban official said at least 13 people including children had been killed in the attack and 52 were wounded, though it was clear from video footage that those figures were far from complete. One surgical hospital run by an Italian charity said it alone was treating more than 60 wounded.

The explosions took place amid the crowds outside the airport who have been massing for days in hope of escaping in an airlift which the United States says will end by Tuesday, following the swift capture of the country by the Taliban.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but U.S. officials pointed the finger at Islamic State's Afghan affiliate, ISIS-Khorosan, which has emerged as enemies of both the West and of the Taliban. A witness who gave his name as Jamshed said he went to the airport in the hope of getting a visa for the United States.

"There was a very strong and powerful suicide attack, in the middle of the people. Many were killed, including Americans," he said.

According to the White House, President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation and is monitoring it from Washington DC.

Tory MP Nus Ghani said she was on the phone to somebody outside Kabul airport when the explosion happened.

The Wealden MP tweeted: “Explosion at Kabul airport. I was on the phone to an Afghan outside the airport when he heard the explosion.

The United States has been racing to airlift its citizens and some Afghan citizens from Kabul before its military is set to fully withdraw from Afghanistan on Aug. 31.

In an alert issued on Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul had advised citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and said those already at the gates should leave immediately, citing unspecified "security threats."

A Western diplomat in Kabul said that areas outside the airport gates had been "incredibly crowded" again despite the warnings.

UPDATE: A statement has been released by the Ministry of Defence on Twitter.

Armed forces minister James Heappey previously warned there is “very credible reporting” of an “imminent” and “severe” threat to Kabul airport.

He had urged people queuing outside Hamid Karzai International Airport to move to safety amid concerns over an affiliate of the so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan, known as Isis-K.

UPDATE: According to Reuters, as many as three US soldiers have been injured in the blast. Turkish officials have said that they believe there were two separate explosions and that no Turkish assets were affected.

UPDATE 15:34 : In a statement, the Pentagon said: 'We can confirm that the explosion near the Abbey Gate of the Kabul airport has resulted in an unknown number of casualties. We will continue to update.'

UPDATE: 15:54 10 Downing Street have confirmed that the Prime Minister has been briefed on the situation at Kabul airport and will chair a COBR meeting later today

More to follow...