Islamic State suicide bombers kill dozens at Kabul airport

Map locating the international airport in Kabul.

Over 80,000 people have been evacuated since August 14, but huge crowds remain outside Kabul airport hoping to flee the threat of reprisals and repression in Taliban-led Afghanistan.

Islamic State suicide bombers attacked crowds of people gathered Thursday outside Kabul airport hoping to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, killing dozens including 13 US troops, as President Joe Biden vowed to hunt down those responsible.

The Taliban said the two blasts killed between 13 and 20 people. A health official in the previous government said the toll could rise to 60.

The airport blasts came as the August 31 deadline looms for the United States to withdraw its troops, and for it and other Western countries to end a massive airlift that has already evacuated nearly 100,000 people.

He said the US soldiers who died in the airport blasts were heroes, and vowed to catch those behind the attack. "We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," he said.

Asked by a reporter if he bore any responsibility for the death of the US service members killed Thursday, Biden said: "I bear responsibility fundamentally for all that's happened of late." 

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP that between 13 and 20 people were killed and 52 wounded in the twin blasts, while Kabul hospitals reported six dead and up to 90 wounded.

General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, initially said 12 US troops were killed. But another soldier died later, and the latest US injury toll is 18, the Central Command said.

McKenzie said the blasts have been assessed as coming from Islamic State suicide bombers, and that the US airlift would continue despite the attack.

The United States expects more Islamic State attacks in Kabul and is prepared to retaliate, McKenzie told a news conference.

Biden had earlier cited an "acute" terrorist threat from the regional chapter of the jihadist group.

- 'Total panic' -

"When people heard the (first) explosion there was total panic," a man name Milad told AFP.

The US government and its allies had raised the alarm earlier in the day with a series of advisories warning their citizens to avoid the airport.

In another picture, a boy was seen clutching the arm of a man whose clothes were soaked in blood.

More than 95,000 Afghans and foreigners have fled Afghanistan via the US-led airlift since the hardline Taliban movement took control of the country.

Several Western allies have already wrapped up their airlift operations including Canada, whose government said it was "truly heartbreaking" to leave behind those who wanted to be rescued.

In Washington, Republicans said Congress should end its summer vacation and reconvene to discuss what they called the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In recent years, the Islamic State's Afghanistan-Pakistan chapter has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in those countries.

The group has especially targeted Muslims from sects it considers heretical, including Shiites.

The Taliban have promised a softer brand of rule from their first stint in power, which ended in 2001 when the United States invaded because they gave sanctuary to Al-Qaeda.

There are particular concerns for women, who were largely banned from education and employment and could only leave the house with a male chaperone during the group's 1996-2001 rule.

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