A day after an explosion rocked Kabul, Pentagon on Friday said that approximately 5,400 individuals at the airport awaiting flights out of Afghanistan.
"There are still approx 5,400 individuals at the airport awaiting flights out of Afghanistan. We have the ability to include evacuees on the US military airlift out of Afghanistan... ISIS will not deter us from accomplishing this mission," said US Army Major General William "Hank" Taylor during a briefing.
Major General Taylor clarified that there was only one explosion at the Abbey gate at Hamid Karzai International airport on Thursday. Earlier, the Pentagon had said there was a second explosion outside the Baron hotel in its initial statements.
"I can confirm for you that we do not believe that there was a second explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, that it was one suicide bomber. We're not sure how that report was provided incorrectly," Taylor told reporters.
Speaking at the same presser, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby there will be a probe into the blast. "We express our condolences for Afghan people who suffered in yesterday's attack. We don't want to see the country torn as under through civil war," Kirby said.
Kirby also announced that additional military bases in the US will be used to help support evacuation operations from Afghanistan.
"The Department of Defense can announce that it is authorized Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Fort Pickett, Virginia, and Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, to provide additional support to the US mission to evacuate Afghans special immigrant visa applicants, their families, and other at-risk individuals."
The death toll from yesterday's blast in Kabul has surged to more than 90 people killed, CNN reported. The report said that more than 150 people were wounded by the blast.
( With inputs from ANI )
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