Washington: The Pentagon on Thursday confirmed an explosion at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, where Western forces are rushing to evacuate as many people as possible out of the country.
It was unclear whether there were any casualties, according to the Pentagon’s top spokesman, John Kirby.
We can confirm an explosion outside Kabul airport. Casualties are unclear at this time. We will provide additional details when we can.
— John Kirby (@PentagonPresSec) August 26, 2021
A White House official told media that President Joe Biden was briefed on the blast.
The revelation comes hours after the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan issued a security alert urging Americans to avoid traveling to Kabul airport.
In the last 24 hours, Western forces evacuated 13,400 people out of Kabul on 91 military cargo aircraft flights. Since the mass evacuations began on Aug. 14, approximately 95,700 people have been airlifted out of Afghanistan.
About 101,300 people have been evacuated since the end of July, including about 4,500 U.S. citizens and their families.