--- title: "Terror Attack Rocks Kabul International Airport (Updated)" description: "Warnings of a potential attack on Kabul airport from ISIS have been growing more urgent for days." date: "2021-08-26" modified: "2021-08-26" authors: - name: "Joseph Trevithick" job_title: "Deputy Editor" link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/joseph-trevithick" url: "https://www.twz.com/42149/nearby-terror-attack-rocks-kabul-airport" categories: - "Afghanistan" - "Around The Globe" - "Civil Aviation" - "Middle East" - "News & Features" - "Terrorism" tags: - "Afghanistan" - "evacuations" - "Hamid Karzai International Airport" - "ISIS" - "ISIS-K" - "Kabul" - "NEO" - "suicide bombing" - "taliban" - "terrorist attack" --- # Terror Attack Rocks Kabul International Airport (Updated) ![]() *www.twz.com* Details are still limited, but there has been an explosion, as well as reports of gunfire, outside of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul where throngs of Afghans continue to gather hoping to escape the country by air. There have been [reports for days now]() that the U.S. government has been increasingly worried that ISIS' franchise in Afghanistan, which is [hostile to the United States]() and its allies and partners, [as well as the Taliban](), might launch an attack on crowds near the airport, which is the current nexus [for all foreign evacuation operations](). Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby has confirmed the blast, but offered no additional details. There is no official word yet on any casualties or who or what might have been responsible. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430888975917453313 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430892186791399435 Various media outlets are separately reporting that this was a complex attack that started with a suicide bombing, which was then followed by gunmen attacking the airport. Whether there is still a firefight actively going on outside the airport is unclear. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430889545105563648 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430890049130872832 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430894625309413383 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430891588209704965 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430888371115732995 Multiple foreign government officials had publicly [warned just this morning]() about the possibility of an imminent attack at the airport. There was "very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack" within "hours," U.K. Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey [had told the *BBC*](). "We received information at the military level from the United States, but also from other countries, that there were indications that there was a threat of suicide attacks on the mass of people," Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo [had also said](). "Due to threats outside the Kabul airport, US citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid airport gates unless you receive instructions to do so," an official travel advisory from the U.S. State Department yesterday had advised. "Those at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately." https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430667319508938753 This is a rapidly developing story and we will continue to update this piece as more information becomes available. ***Update 10:35 AM EST:*** New reports are indicating that the initial blast occurred in a sewage canal just outside the airport, an area that is a known chokepoint for getting in and out of the perimeter. There are also reports emerging that U.S. service members may be among the casualties. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430894371314954247 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430895956946350099 Pictures and video reportedly of the aftermath of this apparent attack are also beginning to emerge, some of which [are extremely graphic](). However, at least some of the imagery circulating on social media is actually unrelated to this incident. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430896385331634215 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430896916393390080 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430892770726535177 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430892941573189644 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430898475726565383 ***Update 10:45 AM EST:*** There are now reports that there appear to have been two separate explosions. At least 13 people have reportedly been killed and many more wounded. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430901867341438980 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430901862283153408 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430904667937009664 The U.S. State Department has also now issued [a formal security alert]() regarding this incident, which is as follows: > Event: EXPLOSION AT THE ABBEY GATE OF KABUL AIRPORT, REPORTS OF GUNFIRE > There has been a large explosion at the airport, and there are reports of gunfire. > U.S. citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid airport gates at this time. > U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately. The U.K. government has issued its own statement saying, in part, that it is "working urgently to establish what has happened." https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430896933095149581 ***Update 11:10 AM EST:*** The Pentagon has now confirmed a number of details about this incident, which it is officially describing as a terrorist attack, including that there were at least two separate explosions, one at Hamid Karzai Internationa airport's Abbey Gate and another in the vicinity of the nearby Baron Hotel. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby has also confirmed that American troops are among the casualties, but offered no additional information. He did not say who may have been responsible. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430907314043719683 U.S. President Joe Biden is reportedly in the [White House Situation Room]() receiving updates about the attack. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430901186459168771 [Emergency](), a non-governmental organization headquartered in Italy and with medical personnel working in Kabul, says that its surgical center in Afghanistan's capital alone has received 30 patients as a result of this attack, as well as six individuals who were dead on arrival. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430907506398695426 ***Update 11:55 AM EST:*** The reported numbers of casualties from this attack continue to grow, as does the [emergence of more graphic imagery](). The U.K. government has now, however, confirmed that none of its personnel at the airport were harmed. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430916877795090437 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430912762604138498 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430918120500252672 *The Associated Press* has also now reported that U.S. officials strongly believe that ISIS' branch in Afghanistan was responsible, though there remains no official confirmation or claim from the group itself. What this might mean for any ongoing evacuation operations remains to be seen. A number of countries had already announced the end of their activities at Hamid Karzai International Airport before this attack occurred, citing growing security concerns and the looming end of the U.S. military's mission early next week. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430877642929156098 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430827214065618954 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430876503273791495 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430910219622576141 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430642770784526336 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430856728896278530 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430854165887176706 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430854304391438339 Separately, there are unconfirmed reports also emerging that foreign troops at Hamid Karzai International Airport are welding at least some entry gates shut. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430912691430957059 ***Update 12:30 PM EST:*** Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen says that at least 13 people have been killed and 52 wounded in the attack and says the group "will take every step to bring the culprits to justice." https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430924295019040770 https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430929381673799685 ***Update 1:10 PM EST:*** *The Wall Street Journal* is now reporting that four U.S. Marines were killed in the attack today in Kabul, while another three were injured. https://twitter.com/\_/status/1430940199341670401 ***We have stopped making updates to this story. You can find our continuing coverage of this terrorist attack*** [***here***]()***.*** *Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com* ## Author Joseph is *TWZ’s* Deputy Editor, helping to oversee the site’s highly experienced and dedicated team, while also writing informative and impactful defense and national security content. He lives right in the thick of it in the Washington, D.C. area. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Bluesky]()