Update (0945ET): It appears, for once, the intelligence agencies were right (or Taliban warnings that is). The Pentagon has just confirmed that there has been a large explosion at Abbey Gate at the Kabul Airport.
SECOND #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. t.co/q4QS9NhrBu
— Matthe Monawar (@MattheMonawar) August 26, 2021
UPDATE — Explosion outside #Kabul airport: At least 10 people were killed, including three U.S. soldiers, according to Israeli media.
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 26, 2021
Explosions at Kabul airport.
The Biden/Harris administration is fully to blame for ALL of this.
We have no choice.
We must #ImpeachBiden, and keep moving down the line.
They are all complicit.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) August 26, 2021
BREAKING: Blast rocks #Kabul Airport in #Afghanistan as the U.S. scrambles to evacuate thousands of Americans. Multiple reports of casualties, including three U.S. Troops injured.
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 26, 2021
French Ambassador to #Afghanistan in a tweet warns of second explosion:
“To all our Afghan friends: If you are near the airport gates, get away urgently and take cover. A second explosion is possible.”
— Ahmer Khan (@ahmermkhan) August 26, 2021
A complex suicide bombing has occurred at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport. Firefights are still ongoing per reports. U.S. urgently assessing the situation.
— Global: MilitaryInfo (@Global_Mil_Info) August 26, 2021
JUST IN: Sources tell @laraseligman, @alexbward and me that there has been a large explosion at Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport.
— Daniel Lippman (@dlippman) August 26, 2021
Picture from near Baron Gate, Kabul airport. Explosion just now. #Afgahnistan pic.twitter.com/jypJkS0YxJ
— Gareth Browne (@BrowneGareth) August 26, 2021
Update (0745ET): A spokesman for the Taliban has just revealed to the Russian press that the Taliban warned the west about the supposedly “imminent” ISIS threat lurking outside the Kabul airport.
Here’s more from RT, the outlet that broke the story.
Zabihullah Mujahid, who holds the office of Information Minister in the Taliban-installed government in Afghanistan, told the Russian media that his organization was the source of the information. The threat was not specific, he said in an interview, but the plan was to provoke chaos and violence at the airport and hurt the Taliban’s reputation.
“Over the last 20 years we have learned things and changed,” the official said in the interview. “We want to prove that we are not what anti-Taliban propaganda has portrayed us to be. We want to show that to the world.”
So, we’re just taking the Taliban at their word now? Sounds reasonable enough…