Kabul: Satellite images show Hamid Karzai International Airport, the crowds at the airport and the Abbey Gate, a main gate at the airport, before two different explosions rocked the area.
The first attack is described as a suicide attack outside the airport and is said to have killed at least 2 people and wounded 15, according to Russian officials.
In recent days, large crowds of people have massed outside the airport as they try to flee the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
Russia's Foreign Ministry says a second explosion happened a short time later outside Kabul airport.
The twin suicide attacks killed at least 13 people and wounded another 15.
The Pentagon has confirmed the attack, and Russian Foreign Ministry gave the official casualty count.
Watch: Many dead, scores injured after explosion near Kabul Airport
U.S. officials said that American personnel have been wounded, without elaborating. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations
Western nations had warned earlier in the day of a possible attack at the airport in the waning days of a massive airlift. Suspicion for any attack targeting the crowds would likely fall on the Islamic State group and not the Taliban, who have been deployed at the airport’s gates trying to control the mass of people.
The explosion went off in a crowd of people waiting to enter the airport, according to Adam Khan, an Afghan waiting nearby. He said several people appeared to have been killed or wounded, including some who lost body parts.
Several countries urged people to avoid the airport earlier in the day, with one saying there was a threat of a suicide bombing. But just days — or even hours for some nations — before the evacuation effort ends, few appeared to heed the call.
AP
