(CNN) The United States plans to end its campaign in Afghanistan this month, the Pentagon said on Friday, as the transit of Americans and their allies into final phase after a bomb blast at Kabul airport killed at least 170 people, including 13 US members. .
Very few people were at the airport on Friday, and a source familiar with the operation of Kabul airport told CNN that the remaining focus was on getting people with special requests to get to the airport at the last minute. But the source warned that officials "are not sure how many can get in so much Taliban cooperation."
More than 200 people were injured in Thursday's attack, an Afghan health official official told CNN on Friday. The UK government said on Friday that two British adults and a child of another British national were among those killed in the attack.
The Pentagon said on Friday the United States was "still planning to end this goal by the end of the month."
"As we get closer and closer, you'll see us start to make those moves to get our troops and other equipment out of the way, right in any way back," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement, adding that they want to "save as much energy as possible, both safe and secure."
A Taliban militant is on high alert for a August 26 suicide bombing.
A Taliban militant is on high alert for a August 26 suicide bombing.
The Pentagon has confirmed that there was only one explosion at the Abbey gate at Hamid Karzai airport on Thursday, after initially there was a second explosion outside the Baron hotel in their initial statements.
"There was a river of blood ... if you wanted to take a few steps you had to first check that there were no corpses under your feet to move," another eyewitness, Muhammad, told CNN.
Muhammad said he had helped U.S. forces and worked with NATO in Afghanistan, was at the airport with his family on Thursday, trying to talk to U.S. troops and get a plane out of the country. He did not give his surname for security reasons.
"I covered my daughter's eyes so she wouldn't see the situation, because the situation was so bad. After that, I went out with my family and continued on my way home," she said.
A few people had gathered at Kabul airport on Friday, a CNN reporter who traveled across the city reported.
People were not allowed to go to the main gate of the airport, a reporter said. About 500 yards in front of the main gate, the road is blocked by the Taliban with parked cars, they added.
The whole city was "quiet," and cars were lower than in the past. All major trading centers were closed or their business was slow, reports a reporter. This is not surprising as Friday marks the start of the Afghan weekend.
A separate correspondent with CNN said Afghan and foreign troops were sending flash bangs inside the airport to try to prevent people from gathering outside the airport on Friday morning.
Despite many attempts to disperse the crowds, many people were still trying to get to the airport in the hope that they would be released.
Relatives include the coffin of a bomb victim who was killed on August 26 in a car in Kabul on August 27, 2021.
Relatives include the coffin of a bomb victim who was killed on August 26 in a car in Kabul on August 27, 2021.
As well as 13 American members were killed, 18 others were injured in the attack, the Pentagon said.
Ten Marines people were among those killed and others wounded, said Lwandle spokesman. Jim Stenger. The identity and units of those killed will not be announced until after notification of relatives, he added.
Members of the U.S. service were injured during Thursday's attack in Kabul, arriving at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for treatment, the Deputy Director General of Military Operations at Army Maj. Gen. William "Hank" Taylor on Friday.
President Joe Biden plans to contact the families of US members killed in Thursday's attack, according to a senior official, who added that the White House is starting to work to ensure that notices of relatives have taken place.