Videos: Aftermath Scenes Of The Bombing At Kabul Airport That Left At Least 40 Dead And 120 Wounded Including At Least 3 U.S. Marines
Two explosions, one just outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and another at the nearby Baron Hotel, caused several casualties Thursday. The attacks came less than a day after the U.S. Embassy warned U.S. citizens to get out of the area. Here’s what we know so far:
The explosion outside the Kabul airport is “definitely believed” to have been carried out by the Islamic State group, a U.S. official told The Associated Press. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Thursday attacks were carried out by two suicide bombers and gunmen.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby confirmed that two explosions took place outside Kabul’s airport on Thursday causing “U.S. and civilian casualties,” part of a complex attack that came after repeated warnings of a threat by the United States and its allies.
According to Kirby, the first blast took place right outside the airport’s Abbey gate and the second at the nearby Baron Hotel. Scattered gunshots were heard after the blasts.
Large crowds of Afghans have been gathering daily at the airport in hopes of fleeing the country following the Taliban takeover. Kirby did not give precise figures but reports from the field say that there are at least 40 dead and 120 wounded, with the majority in critical condition, arriving at Kabul hospitals following the terror attacks, according to a local NYT reporter.
JUST IN – At least 40 dead and 120 wounded, with the majority in critical condition, arriving at #Kabul hospitals following the terror attacks, according to a local NYT reporter.
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 26, 2021
Four U.S. soldiers killed and three wounded in Islamist attack on Kabul airport:
JUST IN – Four U.S. soldiers killed and three wounded in Islamist attack on #Kabul airport (WSJ)
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 26, 2021
Images coming in from Kabul airport as a huge explosion rocks the abbey gate area:
The moment of the explosion was caught on video:
#ImpeachBiden pic.twitter.com/ZDshx8t1jg
— il Donaldo Trumpo (@PapiTrumpo) August 26, 2021
Horrific aftermath following the terror attack at the #Kabul airport. Viewer discretion is advised despite being blurred:
JUST IN – Horrific aftermath following the terror attack at the #Kabul airport. Viewer discretion is advised despite being blurred.pic.twitter.com/E9CcoL45MF
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 26, 2021
Another video:
(warning: graphic video)
Graphic but make yourself watch this so you understand what it means to be an Afghan today. Bodies strewn everywhere, dozens of them..dead bodies of people’s mothers, fathers, siblings or children..they were at the airport seeking a better life outside…no nation deserves this pic.twitter.com/HXdYkXxsSW
— Saad Mohseni (@saadmohseni) August 26, 2021
** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
And here’s the Commander-in-chief with his laser-focused statement from a few days ago:
This speech was 6 days ago.
Laser Focused. pic.twitter.com/B8rLcthsLM
— SCUBA MIKE🤿 (@SCUBA2024) August 26, 2021
He also walked away from a reporter who asked him about the threat Americans now face from ISIS.
Just DAYS ago, Biden walked away from a reporter who asked him about the threat American now face from ISIS.
Today, Americans paid the price of Joe’s incompetence with their own lives.
Biden continues to turn his back on Americans.
Impeach Biden.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) August 26, 2021
Although U.S. forces have suffered casualties, there have been no reports of injuries or fatalities among British soldiers or government officials, the British defense ministry said.. The ministry statement did not mention whether any British civilian trying to leave Afghanistan was hurt or killed.
The bombings at the Kabul airport on Thursday is a reminder of a fundamental truth: War is an ugly, bloody, violent affair.
That may seem self-evident, even simple. Everybody has heard the “war is hell” cliché at some point. But it bears repeating at this moment, while Americans argue furiously about the wisdom of withdrawing from Afghanistan, because so much of the argument for staying depends on a vision of the war there being essentially bloodless.
“Mr. Biden’s decision to withdraw all U.S. forces destroyed an affordable status quo that could have lasted indefinitely at a minimum cost in blood and treasure,” former Ambassador Ryan Crocker wrote last week in a lacerating essay for The New York Times.
“In the last several years, the United States has maintained a relatively small force in Afghanistan, largely devoted to providing surveillance, logistics, and air cover for Afghan forces while taking minimal casualties,” columnist Bret Stephens offered. “Any American president could have maintained this position almost indefinitely — with no prospect of defeating the Taliban but none of being routed by them, either.”
There is something disturbing about the casual disregard for American lives underlying those statements: “Minimal” casualties means only a few soldiers killed or maimed, only a few families back home devastated by the loss of their loved ones. Even if you accept that idea, Crocker and Stephens and the other hawks aren’t really arguing that the sacrifice is worth it, but rather that there won’t be any real sacrifice at all.
The Kabul attacks demonstrate the lie of that notion. As of this writing, at least three U.S. troops were reportedly injured in the blast — and it won’t be surprising if the casualty numbers go higher. As a number of commenters have pointed out over the last two weeks, a primary reason American forces have suffered so few casualties in recent months is because the Taliban expected U.S. forces to exit.
Sullivan pens a regular column that focuses on corruption within government, cronyism, illegal immigration, and general left-wing malfeasance. Kathy also serves as a leading voice against the establishment within the Republican Party and enthusiastically promotes pro-Trump candidates to battle entrenched moderate incumbents.
