Photos: Deadly blast outside Kabul airport
An injured person arrives at a hospital after a suicide bomb attack caused casualties on Thursday, August 26, outside the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux

In pictures: Deadly blast outside Kabul airport

Updated 1604 GMT (0004 HKT) August 27, 2021

An injured person arrives at a hospital after a suicide bomb attack caused casualties on Thursday, August 26, outside the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux

A suicide bomb went off Thursday at a busy gathering area outside the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, a Pentagon spokesman said, as the United States and other Western countries raced to complete a massive evacuation of their citizens and Afghan allies after the Taliban took over the country.

Afghan civilians and US service members were killed in the attack. There was one explosion, the Pentagon confirmed Friday, after initial statements indicated there had been a second explosion outside the Baron hotel.

US officials believe ISIS-K, the ISIS branch that rivals the Taliban in Afghanistan, was likely behind Thursday's attack. President Joe Biden revealed he has ordered military commanders "to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-K assets, leadership and facilities."

"We will respond with force and precision in our time, in a place we choose in a manner of our choosing," he said, declining to give specifics on timing.

The Hamid Karzai International Airport has been the epicenter of the evacuation operation. Over the past two weeks, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the airport by the US military and NATO allies.

Editor's note: This gallery contains graphic images. Viewer discretion is advised.

People who were injured in Thursday's attack are visited by family members at a hospital in Kabul.
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock
Smoke rises Thursday from an explosion outside the airport.
Wali Sabawoon/AP
An injured person waits to be transported near the airport.
Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times/Redux
Afghan refugees are gathered outside the Baron Hotel in Kabul on Thursday as the British military secures the perimeter.
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock
A bloodied shield stands outside the entrance of a Kabul hospital after Thursday's attack.
Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times
An injured man is seen outside a hospital after Thursday's attack.
Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux
A bloodied gurney is seen at a Kabul hospital on Thursday.
Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux
Taliban members guard a road near the airport after the bombing on Thursday.
Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times/Redux
An injured patient waits to be transported to another floor at the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul.
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock
A person injured in a bomb blast is carried outside a Kabul hospital on Thursday.
Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux
British soldiers secure the perimeter outside the Baron Hotel in Kabul on Thursday.
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock
A person is wheeled on a stretcher outside a hospital on Thursday.
Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Shutterstock
Injured women arrive at a hospital for treatment on Thursday.
Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images
An ambulance rushes to the site of an explosion near the airport on Thursday.
Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times/Redux
Volunteers and medical staff unload bodies at a hospital after the bomb blast.
Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images
An injured person arrives on a stretcher at a Kabul hospital on Thursday.
Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times/Redux
A man receives medical attention outside a Kabul hospital on Thursday.
Victor J. Blue/The New York Times/Redux
People are sent away from the scene of a bomb blast outside the airport on Thursday.
Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times/Redux