Afghanistan LIVE: At least 13 dead in twin blasts outside Kabul airport

Afghanistan crisis LIVE updates: Indian government has called for an all-party meeting on the developments in Afghanistan after Taliban takeover. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

1:11 AM

Nancy Pelosi briefed on 12 US troops killed in Kabul

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was briefed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a phone call after the attacks in Kabul on Thursday that also killed at least 12 U.S. service members, including 11 Marines and one Navy medic.

 

Pelosi's office dismissed the House Republican leadership's calls to bring Congress back into session as empty stunts amid the extraordinary evacuation of American citizens and others from Afghanistan.

 

Right now, American heroes are risking & giving their lives to execute an extraordinarily dangerous evacuation, Pelosi's spokesman Drew Hammill said on Twitter. What's not going to help evacuate American citizens is more empty stunts & distraction.

11:58 PM

IS Khorasan prime suspect in Kabul airport attack

The prime suspect for the suicide attacks at Kabul airport on Thursday is the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan known as Islamic State Khorasan Province (Isis-K or ISKP), The Guardian reported.

 

Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to US President Joe Biden, had said on Sunday that there is an acute and "persistent" threat to the continuing evacuations from the Afghan capital from Isis-K, which takes its name Khorasan from that used by a series of Muslim imperial rulers for a swath of land stretching from Iran to the western Himalayas.

 

The warning, which focused attention on a group that has hitherto had a very low international profile, was echoed this week by British and Western European officials. Many have been worried by an intensification of attacks linked to Isis-K in recent months.

11:17 PM

Two suicide attacks outside Kabul airport; Russia says 13 dead

Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul's airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. At least 13 people were killed and 15 wounded, Russian officials said.

 

Several Marines were killed and a number of other American military were wounded, a U.S. official said. It was not clear if those deaths were included in the Russian toll.

 

One of the bombers struck people standing knee-deep in a wastewater canal under the sweltering sun, throwing bodies into the fetid water. Those who moments earlier had hoped to get on flights out could be seen carrying the wounded to ambulances in a daze, their own clothes darkened with blood.

10:05 PM

Kabul blasts leave many dead, US too confirms casualties

A blast rocked the Kabul airport, which is thronged by crowds of desperate Afghans seeking to flee the country after the Taliban takeover, on Thursday, causing numerous casualties, including US personnel. There was also a blast at a nearby hotel, causing more casualties.

 

"We can confirm that the explosion at the Abbey Gate was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US and civilian casualties. We can also confirm at least one other explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate. We will continue to update," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a tweet.

 

A Taliban leader said that at least 11 people, including women and children, were killed, and a number of Taliban guards got injured in the blast.

9:18 PM

Joe Biden to meet with governors willing to help Afghan refugees

A world away from the evacuation violence in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden was meeting Thursday with a bipartisan group of governors from across the U.S. who have said they want to help resettle Afghans fleeing their now Taliban-ruled country.

 

The White House meeting was taking place days before a Tuesday deadline for the U.S. to halt evacuations of Americans and vulnerable Afghans from the airport in Kabul, and to withdraw from the country entirely after 20 years of engagement.

 

Some governors have said they want to help temporarily house or resettle Afghans in their communities because many aided the U.S. war effort and now fear retribution from the Taliban for that assistance. Officials say the U.S. must keep its word to help these Afghans.

 

But some conservatives have been sounding alarms about a new influx of refugees to the U.S., coming on top of large groups of Central American migrants and unaccompanied children trying to enter the U.S. through the border with Mexico.

8:50 PM

Biden to meet with governors willing to help Afghan refugees

A world away from the evacuation violence in Afghanistan, President Joe Biden was meeting Thursday with a bipartisan group of governors from across the U.S. who have said they want to help resettle Afghans fleeing their now Taliban-ruled country, AP reported.

The White House meeting was taking place days before a Tuesday deadline for the U.S. to halt evacuations of Americans and vulnerable Afghans from the airport in Kabul, and to withdraw from the country entirely after 20 years of engagement.

Some governors have said they want to help temporarily house or resettle Afghans in their communities because many aided the U.S. war effort and now fear retribution from the Taliban for that assistance. Officials say the U.S. must keep its word to help these Afghans.

8:37 PM

Pentagon confirms a second explosion in Kabul

8:16 PM

Kabul airport explosion appears to be suicide attack, U.S. officials say

An explosion outside Kabul's airport amid a huge evacuation effort from Afghanistan appeared to be caused by a suicide bomb, U.S. officials said on Thursday, citing an initial report and cautioning that it could change, according to Reuters.

 

8:10 PM

Kabul airport blast kills at least 13, including kids, say Taliban

An explosion outside Kabul airport killed at least 13 people, including children, and wounded many Taliban guards, a Taliban official told Reuters.

8:02 PM

Kerala Governor moved by plight of Afghans, students

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday said he was shaken to the core by the plight of the people of Afghanistan in the wake of the recent political developments in that country, IANS reported.

"Who comes to power there is an entirely different matter... what pains me more are the reports of the hardships and tortures the common masses of the country are undergoing there," Khan said.

He was addressing a delegation of stranded Afghan students including Ishaq Ghayoor, Wali Rahmani, Farzana Amiri, Rasheeda Shahabi here, at a meeting organised by NGO Sarhad President Sanjay Nahar with other personalities present.

7:55 PM

Hundreds of displaced families seek food and shelter in Kabul

Hundreds of Afghan families who have been camping in searing heat at a Kabul park after the Taliban overran their provinces begged for food and shelter on Thursday, the most visible face of a humanitarian crisis unfolding in the war-torn country, Reuters reported.

7:42 PM

Biden has been briefed on Kabul explosion: Pentagon

There has been an explosion outside the Kabul airport, the Pentagon press secretary said on Thursday, adding that it was unclear whether there were casualties amid the large evacuation effort in Afghanistan's capital.
 

U.S. President Joe Biden has been briefed on the explosion, according to a White House official. Biden was in a meeting with security officials about the situation in Afghanistan, where the United States is in the final steps of ending its 20-year war, when the explosion was first reported, according to a person familiar with the matter.
 

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.

7:27 PM

Explosion outside Kabul airport, casualties unclear

7:18 PM

'Overwhelming majority' airlifted from Afghanistan, says British PM

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday that the "overwhelming majority" of people eligible for evacuation from Kabul airport have now left Afghanistan, PTI reported.

Johnson also reiterated that the UK government will do "everything we can" to get those remaining out of the country soon after warnings were issued of an "imminent" and "very lethal" terrorist attack from an Islamic State (ISIS) Afghanistan affiliate dubbed Islamic State Khorasan or ISIS-K.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to British military's Permanent Joint Headquarters in north London to meet troops involved in evacuation efforts in Afghanistan, Johnson said, "around 15,000" people have already been evacuated by British troops.

7:14 PM

Situation in Afghanistan 'extremely complex': Former PM Deve Gowda

7:09 PM

Security threat at Kabul airport 'imminent', says US diplomat

The security threat that prompted the State Department to urge Americans to move away from the perimeter of the Kabul airport was credible and urgent, the acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan said Thursday.
 

Speaking to ABC News from Kabul, Ross Wilson said he could not discuss specifics of the threat or its current status.
 

“It was clearly regarded as credible, as imminent, as compelling,” he said.
 

Ross spoke as the United States worked to get remaining Americans out of the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that as many as 1,500 Americans may be awaiting evacuation from Afghanistan amid growing warnings of terrorist threats targeting the airport.

President Joe Biden has set a Tuesday deadline for ending the evacuation.

6:47 PM

'Taliban's Afghanistan takeover will damage US-Pak ties'

Afghanistan's takeover by the Taliban could weaken ties between the United States and Pakistan in the near future, according to experts, ANI reported.

Pakistan - said to be the largest backer of the Taliban and key player in the Afghan peace deal -- has a "special responsibility" to pressure the terror group to follow their commitments. Pakistan was among the few countries which had recognized the Taliban regime when they governed Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

Experts claim that Islamabad and Washington would be responsible for the situation in Afghanistan, whichever way it turns, since recent developments in the war-ravaged country are the result of the US and Pakistan's inability to maintain peace over the years.

6:43 PM

Some evacuees from Afghanistan have tested positive for Covid-19: Govt

Some of those evacuated from Afghanistan have tested positive for COVID-19 and they have been isolated and are being treated, the government said on Thursday, PTI reported.

Responding to a question at a press conference, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "Whoever lands (in India) they are given anti-polio vaccine because wild polio is still prevalent in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have also made arrangement that all of their RT-PCR tests are done and some of them have tested positive."

He said over 400 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan so far.

6:18 PM

Armed forces won't let political turmoil in any other country affect India: Om Birla on Afghan crisis

The armed forces would not let political turmoil in any other country affect India, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Thursday in a reference to the crisis in Afghanistan, PTI reported.

In an apparent reference to China, Birla, who is on a three-day visit to Ladakh, said the expansionist approach of a few countries results in border disputes and asserted that India always propagates peace and works for strengthening democratic setup in other nations.

The Lok Sabha speaker is on a week-long trip to Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as part of the 'parliamentary outreach programme for empowerment of panchayati raj institutions'.

6:16 PM

Canada halts Afghanistan evacuations as deadline looms

Canada has ended evacuations from Kabul's airport, a Canadian general said on Thursday, as the clock ticks down on dramatic Western efforts to help people flee the Taliban takeover ahead of a full American withdrawal, AP reported.

General Wayne Eyre, the country's acting chief of Defence Staff, said all the other countries have to leave the airport before the Americans can wrap up their mission. Canadian military flights evacuated about 3,700 people.

"We stayed in Afghanistan for as long as we could. We were amongst the last to cease evacuation operations. We wish we could have stayed longer and rescued everyone who was so desperate to leave. That we could not is truly heartbreaking, but the circumstances on the ground rapidly deteriorated," Eyre said.

5:59 PM

Russia says it will study Taliban's actions before deciding on recognition

Russia has yet to determine its position towards the Taliban, and will see how they act toward the Afghan population and Russian diplomats, President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

5:37 PM

DGCA allows Boeing 737 Max planes to fly

5:33 PM

Animal charity's staff, pets seek way out of Afghanistan

A former Royal Marine who runs an animal charity in Afghanistan said Thursday that he, his Afghan staff and dozens of dogs and cats are stuck outside Kabul's airport as they try to get a flight out of the country before evacuation efforts end, AP reported.

Paul Pen Farthing appealed to the Taliban to allow the group safe passage into the airport. He tweeted to Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen that we have been here for 10 hours after being assured that we would have safe passage. Truly would like to go home now.

Farthing has been pressing for days to get staff of his Nowzad charity out of Afghanistan, along with the group's rescued animals.

4:56 PM

Pak PM Imran Khan calls on international community for positive engagement with Afghanistan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday called for the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan and asked the international community for positive engagement with Kabul as a way forward to avert any humanitarian crisis and ensure peace and stability in the war-ravaged country, PTI reported.

 

Khan made the comments during his meeting with Executive Director of United Nations World Food Program (WFP) David Beasley here. During the meeting, they discussed ways of facilitating the continued provision of humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

 

Khan said that positive engagement of the international community with Afghanistan was the way forward to avert any humanitarian crisis and secure peace and stability in Afghanistan.

4:55 PM

People evacuated from Afghanistan will be administered anti-polio vaccine: Health Secretary Bhushan

2:58 PM

Govt shares evacuation data with Oppn

1:12 PM

European nations warn of attacks in Afghanistan

European nations offered stark warnings Thursday about the waning days of a massive airlift to bring people out of Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the country, with a British official saying an “imminent attack” could target Kabul's international airport. France said it would halt its evacuations Friday while Denmark said its last flight had already left Kabul's airport, the AP reported.

12:42 PM

British Minister warns of 'imminent attack' at Kabul airport

The British government says large numbers of people hoping to leave Afghanistan remain outside Kabul airport, despite warnings to leave because of the risk of a suicide bombing. British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey told the BBC on Thursday there was ”very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack” at the airport, according to Reuters.

12:39 PM

British official warns of attack on Kabul airport

British official warns of 'very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack' targeting Kabul airport amid evacuations. 

11:47 AM

Immigrant families from San Diego area stuck in Afghanistan

A school district in a San Diego suburb that is home to a large refugee population said many of its families who had taken summer trips to Afghanistan to see their relatives have gotten stuck there with the chaos following the withdrawal of US troops.

 

The Cajon Valley Union School District, in the suburb of El Cajon, east of San Diego, said the families of 24 students from various schools had reported they would not able to start the school year on August 17 because the children and their parents were unable to get through the throngs of people at the Kabul airport. Thousands of people have been converging on the airport, desperate to escape since the Taliban seized control of the country.

 

The families had travelled separately to Afghanistan for summer vacation.