Graphic images, videos show aftermath of Kabul airport explosions
TOPSHOT – Medical and hospital staff bring an injured man on a stretcher for treatment after two blasts, which killed at least five and wounded a dozen, outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)
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KABUL, Afghanistan (NewsNation Now) — At least two explosions rocked the area around Kabul’s airport amid a huge and chaotic evacuation effort from Afghanistan Thursday, the Pentagon said.
Civilians and U.S. service members are among the casualties of what was described as a “complex attack” by the Pentagon.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said one blast occurred near the airport’s Abbey Gate and the other close to the nearby Baron Hotel. Two U.S. officials said at least one of the explosions appeared to be from a suicide bombing.
There is no official death count, but a Taliban official said at least 13 people were killed in the blast, including children, and many Taliban guards were wounded.
A U.S. official told Reuters as many as three U.S. service members were among those hurt, and that U.S. casualty numbers were expected to increase, according to initial information. At least one of the U.S. personnel was seriously hurt, an official said. Russian officials said at least two were dead and 15 were injured.
A massive airlift of foreign nationals and their families as well as some Afghans has been under way since the day before Taliban forces captured Kabul on Aug. 15, capping a swift advance across the country as U.S. and allied troops withdrew.
Over the last week, the airport has been the scene of some of the most searing images of the chaotic end of America’s longest war and the Taliban’s takeover, as flight after flight took off carrying those who fear a return to the militants’ brutal rule.
The United States has been racing to carry out the airlift before its military is set to fully withdraw from the country on Aug. 31.
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Medical and hospital staff bring an injured man on a stretcher for treatment after two blasts, which killed at least five and wounded a dozen, outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images) 
TOPSHOT – Medical and hospital staff carry an injured man out of a car for treatment after two blasts, which killed at least five and wounded a dozen, outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images) 
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Volunteers and medical staff bring an injured man on a stretcher for treatment after two powerful explosions, which killed at least six people, outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images) 
TOPSHOT – Medical and hospital staff bring an injured man on a stretcher for treatment after two blasts, which killed at least five and wounded a dozen, outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images) 
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / TOPSHOT – Wounded women arrive at a hospital for treatment after two blasts, which killed at least five and wounded a dozen, outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images) 
In this satellite photo released by Planet Labs Inc., Kabul’s international airport is seen as an evacuation flight taxis to the military side of the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021. Western nations warned Thursday of a possible attack on the airport, where thousands have flocked as they try to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the waning days of a massive airlift. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP) 
Injured people arrive at a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 26, 2021. ASVAKA NEWS/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO 
Injured people arrive at a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan August 26, 2021. ASVAKA NEWS/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. 
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Taliban fighters stand on a pickup truck outside a hospital as volunteers bring injured people for treatment after two powerful explosions, which killed at least six people, outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021. (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)
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Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
