The Pentagon announced Friday that there was only one suicide bomber explosion in Kabul Thursday despite initial reports of a second explosion around the Baron Hotel near the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Defense officials now believe only one blast happened at the gate around 5 p.m. local time on Thursday, contradicting Pentagon spokesman John Kirby’s Thursday update that a second explosion occurred outside the Baron Hotel near the Abbey Gate of the airport.
“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,” said Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, deputy director of the Joint Staff for regional operations.
MORE THAN 100 DEAD FROM BOMBINGS IN KABUL AMID FINAL DAYS OF US EVACUATION EFFORTS
“We do not believe there was a second explosion at or near the Baron hotel… it was one suicide bomber”
US Army Major General Taylor confirms 13 US soldiers were killed in the Kabul airport attack, adding wounded US troops have been flown to Germanyhttps://t.co/F46hXcaz8L pic.twitter.com/Q5LQUxvGZg
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) August 27, 2021
At least 13 U.S. service members were among dozens killed after a bomb went off near the Abbey Gate of the airport in the Afghan capital. After the suicide bomber detonated the vest, other ISIS fighters opened fire. Kirby and Taylor declined to say whether any soldiers were killed by the shots fired as opposed to the bomber.
The death toll, which is expected to grow, indicates 113 Afghan civilians were killed, an unnamed Afghan Public Health Ministry official told NBC News Friday morning.
Kirby and Taylor repeatedly declined to provide specific details on the attack when peppered with questions at Friday’s Pentagon briefing, saying that an “investigation” would be conducted to determine exactly what transpired.
U.S. officials have said ISIS-K, the Afghanistan affiliate of the terror group, was behind the explosion, and the group took responsibility. Officials had warned preemptively about the threat of an attack from the group, and the U.S. Embassy in Kabul urged U.S. citizens heading to the Kabul airport to leave.
Kirby said there were still “specific credible threats” facing U.S. troops stationed at the airport, where officials are working to evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghan allies fleeing the Taliban-controlled country.
The Taliban are providing perimeter security at the airport, forcing them and the United States to work together.
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When asked at Thursday’s briefing about the possibility that the Taliban had played a role in the attack, Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, noted that the group has “a practical reason for wanting us to get out of here by 31st of August. … We want to get out by that day, too. … So we share a common purpose.”
The U.S. and coalition forces are continuing to evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghan allies in an effort to comply with President Joe Biden’s self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline. From Aug. 14 through Friday morning, the U.S. has evacuated or facilitated the evacuation of approximately 105,000 people, and approximately 110,600 people have been relocated during the entire month.
