95 die in multiple blasts at Kabul airport; ISIS claims responsibility

Kabul, Aug 26: Two back to back explosions near Kabul international airport on Thursday killed over 95 persons and several others were wounded. The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the twin blasts outside Kabul airport.

Thirteen US soldiers were killed and 18 others injured in the attack outside the Kabul airport carried out by the ISIS in one of the worst terrorist strikes in Afghanistan in over a year.

The IS branch, known as The Islamic State-Khorasan Province after a name for the region from antiquity, said in its claim of responsibility that it targeted American troops and their Afghan allies. The statement carried a photo of what the militant group said was the bomber who carried out the attack.

The image shows the alleged attacker standing with the explosive belt in front of the black IS flag with a black cloth covering his face, only his eyes showing.

The statement made no mention of a second suicide bomber or gunmen. The claim could not be independently verified. IS also said the bomber managed to get past Taliban security checkpoints to come within 5 metres (yards) of a gathering of US soldiers, translators and collaborators before detonating his explosives.

It said Taliban were also among the casualties. The extremist IS group has battled the Taliban, which it views as traitorous for agreeing to a peace deal with the United States.

The statement also said the bomber got around US security measures and that the camp that was targeted was where US forces were gathering paperwork for those who've worked with the military.

with PTI inputs