Pentagon says only one bomb was detonated in Kabul airport attack
The Pentagon now says only one bomb — and not two like previously reported — was detonated outside Kabul airport Thursday that killed 13 US service members and at least 169 Afghans.
Army Maj. Gen. William “Hank” Taylor admitted during a press briefing Friday that there was only one ISIS-affiliated explosion at the Abbey gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
US officials had previously said a second explosion – believed to be a car bomb — occurred outside the nearby Baron Hotel.
“I can confirm for you that we do not believe that there was a second explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, that it was one suicide bomber. We’re not sure how that report was provided incorrectly,” he said.
US officials are still trying to determine exact details of the attack, including how the ISIS-K bomber was able to get so close to the airport gate and detonate his suicide vest where US service members and Afghans were gathered.
Gen. Taylor said the bomb went off “right at the gate” where service members were stationed and was promptly followed by enemy gunfire from an area just outside the perimeter.
Afghan officials have already warned the death toll is likely to rise given many bodies had been dismembered or not yet identified.
Blood-soaked clothing and belongings were still scattered all over a canal Friday morning close to where the bomb was detonated.
The 18 US service members wounded in the attack have since landed at the American Ramstein Air Base in Germany where they are being treated, Taylor said.
Despite the carnage, officials said more than 300 Americans had been evacuated from Kabul in the 24 hours ending Friday morning.
In total, 8,500 were evacuated on US military flights in that period.
Gen. Taylor said there was still about 5,400 people currently at Kabul airport waiting to be evacuated and the US is still planning to retreat by the Aug. 31 deadline.
Meanwhile, despite the horror, Afghans desperate to flee the country arrived back at the scene of the bombing Friday morning hoping they could still be evacuated.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the US believes there are still “specific, credible” threats.
“We certainly are prepared and would expect future attempts,” Kirby said, adding: “We’re monitoring these threats, very, very specifically, virtually in real time.”
President Biden has vowed to go after the terrorists — known as the Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K — and said late Thursday he’d ordered US generals to plan retaliatory strikes on the group’s key assets.
“We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said.
“These ISIS terrorists will not win. We will rescue the Americans. We will get our Afghan allies out. And our mission will go on.”
With Post wires
