An explosion has been reported at Kabul airport.
https://twitter.com/geoallison/status/1430892108907380753?s=19
The Ministry of Defence have said:
Our primary concern remains the safety of our personnel, British citizens and the citizens of Afghanistan. We are in close contact with our US and other NATO allies at an operational level on the immediate response to this incident.
— Ministry of Defence Press Office (@DefenceHQPress) August 26, 2021
A Ministry of Defence source told the BBC:
“We don’t have any record of UK military casualties but it’s too early to know for sure.”
British troops were recently been based at Abbey Gate at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“Details of the explosion at Kabul airport remain unclear. There have been some reports of gunfire on the ground.
The explosion has occurred at the Abbey gate entrance where British troops have been stationed in recent days. It was one of three gates that had been closed followings warnings of a terrorist threat. ”
More on this as it develops.
And so it begins. Hope TIC are safe and exfil unharmed.
Personally, this situation brings even more shame on this Govt and yet promotes the very best values of the UK armed forces who have stepped without question into harm’s way.
Exemplo Ducemus.
The UK Government/MoD better have a good exit strategy in place for our lads. You know when the deadline gets close the situation will snowball really quickly and is likely to go Pete Tong. A C17/A400 still needs a long length of clear runway to take-off; park a few Humvees or Hiluxs in the way, they’d be stuffed! Not heard anything out of Odiham, but a few death bananas nearby would go a long way to ease my worries. The Tajikistan border is about 450km (280 miles) North as the crow flies from Kabul. A skinny tank Chinook can do… Read more »
I suspect the plan is to let the US worry about that, as our guys will leave first. The US have moved a lot of assets into the area to do exactly this, fast exit using helicopters.
Hurry up and wait then!
I’m picturing those scenes where people were hanging off the undercarriage of departing planes last week. With no ground control in place you definitely wouldn’t want large aircraft as your last exit. They’ll need a stop off somewhere though if helis are the planned last exit route?
US have ability to do air to air refueling of their Chinooks, to avoid needing to land until in a third country, something we haven’t oddly invested in.
Good contribution bud, cheers.
I’d be more worried about civilians over running the perimeter.i doubt the Taliban will attack and if they do its a clear cut response but civilians is anther matter.
Terry Taliban may end up defending our guys from ISIS-K. Stranger things have happened in war.
Much closer is the Panjshir valley still not under Taliban control. Not sure if there’s an airstrip there and it would tick off the Taliban using it as as safe zone but I suspect if it’s an exit under fire then that wouldn’t matter much.
My thoughts exactly mate, as the perimeter is folded in, the last elements will need to be shifted via C130, but with other rotary assets both providing cover and the last lift. My thoughts were a couple of apaches, last out, then off to a desert strip, dumped and destroyed and a pick up of the crew by another C130. Whatever happens, whatever plan is put into place the final lads leaving will need a lot of coordination and a good slice of luck! And also a lot of on call airpower and overwatch assets. What they were thinking in… Read more »
Chinooks, unguarded, over that distance and through that terrain.
The Taliban would have a field day.
Would need Apache or fixed wing cover…
But like you, I hope there is an extraction plan…
We’ve done it before. Apaches although great in support are unfortunately really short legged. We would need to have a number of refuel points along the way. Which would compound the problem of having less people involved. The main issue would the approach and then leaving Kabul. Once past this point the Chinook can cruise at 5000ft, which is out of small arms and RPG range. Unless the Taliban have found a load of manpads, there should be no threats outbound. UAVs and fast air would have to provide the close air support. Not ideal, but does mean they can… Read more »
We wont be the last out which is working in our favour and should get us out without issue.
Not entirely sure why Turkey seems to be wanting to stay to ‘protect’ the airport but its clearly not being welcomed by the Taliban.
Could be a very bad move by Erdogan if he insists on doing it.
Think the Taliban want Turkeys assistance in running the airport but without their military presence or them providing security. Depends what Erdogan sees as a mutually beneficial arrangement 🤔
Erdogan certainly seems to enjoy inserting troops into the worlds finest tourist destinations!
The ISIS insurgency takes another step in Afghanistan ,a Islamic group attacking another Islamic group ,maybe the Taliban will get cold feet aligning with Al-Qaeda again?, maybe wishful thinking on my part.
The irony there is ISIS and the Taliban have been fighting for supremacy for a while and ISIS was gaining the upper hand until the yanks decided to carry out a large number of airstrikes on them (including the dropping of the MOAB) which allowed the Taliban to rule the roost.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/15/us-mother-of-all-bombs-moab-afghanistan-donald-trump-death-toll
Who’s the lesser evil ?I read that a british general said that this version of the Taliban is less extreme than before ,who knows.
A lot of the original heads of the Taliban were slotted by drone strikes. So perhaps the Sharia hardliners have been got rid off and that is what he was pertaining to.
Nah, they will be replaced by equally as zealous hardliners.
Former head of the Taliban was in exile and has now returned. He spent time in jail thanks to the west invasion, I doubt it made him more liberal.
Taliban have little interest in international terrorism, they just want an Islamic state. ISIS on the other hand, well they want everything.
That I hope .
Dave wrote: Who’s the lesser evil ?I read that a british general said that this version of the Taliban is less extreme than before ,who knows. They haven’t changed one bit. Its just a public image designed for the Western public in which to ensure that aid continues to flow into the country no questions asked. Yesterday they banned all women from leaving home:(CNN headlines) Taliban tell Afghan women to stay home from work because soldiers are ‘not trained’ to respect them Social media is full of videos of Taliban thugs entering households and taking by force little girls from… Read more »
Not sure what the link (disgusting as it is) has to do with what’s happening in Afghanistan mate.
I doubt there are many in The West who somehow think that the ‘Honest, we’re different now’ Taliban will be much different to the ‘Artist formerly known as the Taliban’ but lets wait until we extract our troops and as many friendlies as we can and let the dust settle before we all give our knowing nods about what a horrible bunch of B’stards they are.
ISIS and the Taleban make interesting enemy’s, seeing as they are both from the Sunni sect, and historically ISIS has roots in AQ, I think the saying you Reap what you Sow applies to the Taleban today.
Doubt it. Imo, if anything this attack was Taliban-sponsored.
Well Taliban guards have been killed as well according to the latest reports but take your point ,who knows.
A little more info:
https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee/status/1430892048509403147?s=20
Could be an itchy RPG trigger finger….
One Taliban guard at the airport was waving one around the other day with his finger on the trigger, made me wince…..
In somewhat stark contrast to the firearms safety control, exhibited by the much of the Taliban of late, Cough, Cough ex ANA, Cough!
So, some of the training wasn’t waisted…..🤨
I think the Taliban leadership will ‘try’ and hold it together, until they revert to type, split along tribal lines and turn Karbul back into a smoking ruin as they turn on each other again….
That’s very possible, when ISIS started operating in Afghanistan, the Taliban split and fought between those who want to join and those who opposed ISIS.
Just listening to the Pentagon briefing. The bomb at the airport gate was a suicide bomber. 12 US personnel killed.
No info about the second explosion at the hotel in town.
Highly unlikely. Makes no tactic sense on the Taliban’s part to do this given that;
• they have a big PR campaign ongoing to try and convince the West how much nicer they are now
• they want the remaining US troops out on time as agreed.
Precisely. For now, and probably for a long time, this is purely conjecture. However, I think that Taliban-controlled Afghanistan may have an interest here. Showing ISIS-K as aggressive radicals makes them seem less awful in the eyes of the West. In addition, this attack, for the moment, makes them victims just like the US troops and Afghan public. Of course, this all hinges on the fact that the very capable CIA, MI6 etc. fail to connect the Taliban to this attack.
From what I have gathered, there have been two explosions with roughly about 15 casualties including women and children. No military casualties reported, though a few Taliban guards have been wounded, which suggests they aren’t responsible. ISIS-K most likely responsible.
The utter pointlessness of adding to the Human misery, these bastards will stoop to any level in their pursuit of bloodshed….
Just horrific….
It’s the Taliban governments first test then, let’s see if they are up to malleting ISIS…..
See how they like dealing with insurgents….
Yeah, I can’t particularly believe I am saying it, but I hope the Taliban leadership have firm control of their militants, the last thing we need is the Taliban fracturing and seeing a resurgence of ISIS in Afghanistan. It’s sad and depressing that the Taliban are least worst option.
Hay, it’s a fact Christopher. In reality they have been the defacto Government in waiting for a couple of years, with US (and I am sure UK) intelligence services in regular contact. They always knew the Afghan government would collapse, they just didn’t think it would be rolled up before we buggered off! Diplomacy via intelligence assets has always happened, it’s unpalatable, but important and dangerous work. 20 years ago, ‘Laurel and Hardy’ commited US and UK troops to an open ended nightmare, it’s the intelligence and SF people that work tirelessly in the shadows to clean the bloody mess… Read more »
From what i read the taliban are not a single unit, its multiple factions working together to regain the country, which means firm control is very much not in place, it just requires one of them factions be more more militant than the rest or run out of patience, for a mess to occur.
The Taliban will deal with them ruthlessly, with no rules of engagement to follow, no cynical media to appease and no human rights solicitors to worry about.
Perhaps the UK getting its 3x Puma out at the end of June was a bit too soon? Would have been handy this last week getting to those Brits outside Kabul, who could not risk the road & its taliban checkpoints to get to Kabul Airport.
They would have come in very handy…..
The risk now is isis mortar attacks on the airfield.
If that happens, it will be cut and run time unfortunately….
Such a mass of human tragedy, what a mess….
US Pentagon briefing says US have positioned counter mortar and rocket defences around the airport perimefer.
Great PR but if the initial mortar(s) knock the crap out of the runway and/or large aircraft then its its a bit of a pyrrhic victory if the counterfire knocks out the enemy mortar(s).
The General also said the US also have MQ-9 and Apaches in the air for surveillance. You do what you can I guess. The ‘walk ins’ are the hardest to stop.
That’s the problem Andy, if mortars start falling it’s over, no amount of sophisticated gear will make a jot of difference.
Just take a look at the Satellite map, city surrounding on two sides, mortars could start from back alleys or rooftops, if we start firing hellfire missiles into Karbul, the Taliban will engage too and it will be a bloodbath, with the civilians caught in the middle….
Nope, if mortars come into play, it’s time to mount up and leave asap…..
What a bloody mess mate….
If nothing else the MOD had spot on int that an attack was inbound.
Reports say 3 US Marines have been killed… Let’s see what Biddy Biden does now… Probably dribble a lot and dither.
I suspect that the UK is back channeling with the Taliban to ensure a sensible withdrawal… However can the Taliban sort out the security situation on the ground as the Western powers fly out? AC 130s may be doing some heavy sorties very shortly.
Would agree if the West is out by the 31st we’ve held up our end. Taliban back fill to secure the airport which makes sense if they do want a functioning country with international connections. US and UK have an orderly withdrawal.
couldn’t agree more, he looks confused and lost. One would think there was a robust extraction plan/strategy to begin with. They knew this would happen. Why not get the refugees out before and then withdraw the troops – just nuts.
I’m angry about this, the entire mess from start to end along with the Irag lie. All those lives waisted. I’m venting- but I’m completely disillusioned with American foreign policy.
Biden’s folly coming home to roost. Why on Earth they closed BAGRAM FIRST beggars belief. Totally failed exit. So sad and so unnecessary.
Exactly!
Apparently the US moved out of Bagram in just a single night and didn’t bother informing the Iraqi Base commander.
Whatever the failures of western politicians (and their have been many) one has to say that these terrorists are savage, barbarian Bs.
Time to exfil the troops, collapse the perimeter and get out. Once out we can always go back in at a time and place of our choosing to save more refugees.
God bless the 82nd Airborne, their families and the dead. Most of all pray for our troops.
Now reports saying at least 12 US Marine deaths… The US electorate won’t stand for that… Biden is toast if he does his usual thing and laughs it off…
That’s terrible news, awful, it will haunt Bidens presidency, like the US Marine evacuation mission in Cambodia in 1975 haunted Ford’s.
The irony of the Taliban dealing with a terrorist attack on their turf will not be lost on the world.
Indeed it won’t, a massive fail on their watch…..
It’s notoriously hard to spot a suicide bomber in the crowd.
The Taliban let out the IS prisoners.
Surprisingly no Taliban were killed or injured and they man all the checkpoints prior to the American checkpoints at the airport. Hmmm.
That gate had been closed so probably no-one, be it friendly forces or Taliban manning it. ISIS-K and Taliban are not colluding as you suggest, they hate each other.
Them why did the Taliban release them from Kabul prison?
So the RAF has flown out 12000 and the US AF has flown out 5000 eligible persons…
Is this the USA looking after number one again?
Bloody typos on a phone keyboard and you cannot edit them… The USAF has flown out nearly 50k
That just means the US has more aircraft to call on, surely. They probably have more people to evac as they had a bigger footprint. Not strange in my book.
11 US Marines and 1 Navy medic killed 15 injured, around 60 Afghans killed including children and Taliban around 150 injured. No British troops injured and as far is known no British Citizens killed.
Attacks were targeted at a hotel used by Britain and an airport access road that leads to the British controlled gate at the airport. Gunmen then opened fire on civilians and US troops trying to break in through the US controlled gate.
Get our lads out now.
There are 2200 ISIS-K terrorists i Afghanistan. What I would do is order in special forces and prosecute with very extreme prejudice. Unfortunately it is the only language they understand. I would also warn Pakistan not to intervene or again prosecute with very extreme prejudice.
You can guarantee this outrage won’t go unanswered and the substantial intelligence and Special Forces assets at the President’s disposal will come into play.
The whole network will be hunted down like dogs…
Apparently in an unprecedented move,time critical intelligence has been passed to the Taliban too.
They can expect no quarter from the Taliban leadership, ISIS-K have effectively declared war on the Taliban and hugely embarrassed them in front of the world’s press….
Good I hope they do hunt them down like dogs with no clemency at all. Human rights groups can go to hell now as we’ve done too much of that liberal non-sense and it has only wrought death and destruction for us. All future terrorist atrocities should be met with deadly force for all those who aided and abetted as well.
Also time to cut Pakistan loose. They should have zero foreign aid and no trade deals with either the US or UK. They have been double dealing for years and have helped both the Taliban and ISIS-K. One could argue UK overseas aid has actually helped Pakistan arm these terrorist groups. We should tell Pakistan if they want to be a refuge for terrorists they will be treated as such. I have zero tolerance for Pakistan and the same with Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar. Most of our home grown terrorists, of Pakistani origin, can be traced to radicalisation through… Read more »
As I’ve stated previously the big mistake was not in attacking Al-q and its Taliban supporters ( which we did well for the first few months) but in sending in bucket loads of troops to turn A-stan into a ‘modern’ state. Once this occurred the West ( esp US etc) routed huge amounts of supplies thru Pakistan and so became somewhat beholden to them. If the West had kept to a kill terrorists and Taliban policy ( no nation building ) and left after say 6 months ( 1 year at most) whilst on top ( telling the Talibs we… Read more »
I can see exactly where you are coming from, unfortunately it’s more complex than that. There’s a larger game at play in the region and a reason we haven’t just cut Pakistan loose. Pakistan is a nuclear state and the danger of the country loosing any moderate voices left in power, would be dangerously destabilising for the whole world. A cut off, hard line Pakistan would mean the situation between India and Pakistan could become even more perilous than it is and the possibility of an ever stronger links between Pakistan and Iran, with China pulling the strings as the… Read more »
John I understand where you’re coming from but sadly Pakistan has gone over to China already. Why would the US support them with wedges of cash when they’ve helped kill plenty US soldiers with their double dealing. Yes they’re nuclear but meh – so are the West.
John I read an article that Pakistan is now scared that the UK and US will isolate them. They are scrambling to repair the damage they have done to the relationship between the three countries. Now is the perfect time to isolate them and ask for them to reform their inter-service intelligence (ISI) agency that harbored Osama Bin-Laden, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and ISIS-K. Whether they have nuclear weapons or not is irrelevant (look at North Korea for instance and how we have isolated them even though they have links to both China, Pakistan and Iran). We have overwhelming nuclear… Read more »
There’s the elephant in the room. Since 2002, we have fought pointless wars against the wrong enemy. The 9/11 hijackers were Saudi, and financed by Saudi money. There were no AQ terrorists in Iraq or WMD. But, the Iraqi insurgency against US/UK forces was supported and bankrolled by Iran. The Taliban were sheltered, supported, financed and armed by Pakistan. Even Osama Bin Laden was given a safe haven there, right next to a military academy 🤔. That pointless Iraqi campaign diverted so much military, diplomatic and political effort away from Afghanistan where it perhaps might have made a difference. I… Read more »
Totally agree OldSchool. Pakistan should be isolated and if they want to get into bed with China and Russia so be it but they should get zero support from us and we should back India fully including in Kashmir. In the UK (apart from family members) we should not allow non-family members from Pakistan flying to the UK. In other words a total ban on travel to and from Pakistan to the UK unless they can demonstrate they are direct family members in the UK. Any British person travelling to a Madrasa in Pakistan should be treated as a terrorist… Read more »
Andrew, you are so right. Most (if not all) of this outcome is there bloody fault! Shame on them. Thank you for making this so crystal They owe an apology to all the families who lost loved one’s trying to bring peace and stability to the people of Afgahnistan.
Those countries: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar have been double dealing for years whilst they funded terrorism against the west. I thank god we are decarbonizing economies as the loss of oil revenue should hopefully put pay to the major funding of terrorism. Time to pull the rug from under these countries in terms of money. Also time to ensure a reformation happens in Islam in the UK and force through change in religious teaching in our schools to be more consistent with the modern world. The Muslim council of Britain needs fundamental reform and many of the extreme… Read more »
Totally agree anyone who has been given a UK passport and is involved in anything to do with terrorism should have the passport revoked, removed from the UK if in it and banned from ever returning. Any assets in that persons name should also be seized by the state. The country has been far too soft for far too long based on idiotic laws brought in to protect people who cause harm.
Fully agree with you and a good idea about seizing assets. I put in a discussion, on this thread, about what we need to do with the Muslim council of Britain to ensure that it doesn’t foster radicalization. We need to look carefully at the funding they receive and see where it stems from (a lot of expensive Mosques have been built in the UK in central London and how did they get the level of funding to buy land and build such expensive Mosques – I suspect from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar). Any funding outside of the… Read more »
All excellent points guys, yet we have known about Pakistan / Saudi Arabia etc funding and supporting terrorism for decades …. And done absolutely nothing….
I doubt anything will change unfortunately, bigger play at stake, those that operate in the shadowy corridors of power have their own agendas.
I would agree John. This goes to my point following the Singapore model for paying politicians. Pay only a few really well and it avoids bribery and corruption. My guess is there is some back handers going on with our politicians from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and China. Personally I would force our politicians to have their bank accounts audited fully during and after their terms of office in exchange for being incredibly well paid by the tax payer. However, unfortunately your average Brit doesn’t understand paying politicians very well to avoid bribery, lobbying and corruption. We seem to have followed… Read more »
I would love to have had Tony Blair’s accounts audited, well him and his wife.
Became PM with a net worth of circa 1 Million, week after he left power spent almost 30 million on property. 10 years earning what 175k a year does not add up to 30 million.
I wont disagree with anything you have said however it will hit one gigantic brick wall, any kind of trying to monitor what goes on will be seen as an attack against the religion in the UK and would immediately lead to whatever political party signs it off being voted out at the next election. Its like trying to reform the NHS, touch it and it equals instant political loss. The religion has simply become too big in the UK and we cant do anything about it now. The mosques themselves are actually part of the issue, not that I… Read more »
I wouldn’t expect too much of a response from sleepy Joe, this mess was of his making…..
I think it’s a case of he couldn’t get it right whatever he did to be honest Paul.
There would be howls of protest if he stayed longer and howls of protest when he leaves….
I think the Afghan final withdrawal with probably haunt Bidens presidency, in much the same way as the withdrawal from Vietnam and Cambodia effected President Ford and Eagle Claw effected Carter’s.
I’m just glad Trump isn’t running it, the man’s so unstable, god knows what crackpot decisions he would have made….
In regards to Foreign Policy can you provide any examples of Donald Trump making a ‘crackpot decision ‘ ?.
You seem to be suggesting that Trump wasn’t quite mad Paul?? The man who wanted to be President because (and I quote) ‘I want to be the most famous man in the world’… From a typical foreign point of view, Trump reduced the hallowed office of the President to a laughing stock, he abused his position and was just an embarrassment really… Luckily for all of us, he had sensible military advisers (who were much harder to sack than his civilian advisers) who talked him down from his worst pie in the sky flights of fancy. Anyway, foreign policy crackpot… Read more »
Im not suggesting anything,you made the comment,but in Mr Trump’s defence it was obvious that he didn’t fit the mold of a conventional Politician,especially one to sit in the Highest Office on the Planet.His response to the Syria Chemical Attack incident was quite proportionate without being an unnecessary escalation of the situation,his Olive Branch offered to North Korea was a major breakthrough even if it ultimately failed to gain any success.Iran is another unresolved issue but again he didn’t feel the need to engage in War just for the sake of it.China and Russia were treated with grudging respect,again with… Read more »
We will have to agree to disagree Paul, I would say as ‘unconventional’ as a Mach Hare personally…
I think I would classify him as being destructivly disruptive. Many poor policies, some interesting policies, but generally all really badly executed. His backing of Putin over his own security agencies, his withdrawal from international obligations on climate change, his view and actions that countries that have a positive trade balance with USA were somehow cheats and thief’s and yet he is an advocate of free markets and deals. Short term home optics gain in exchange for widespread international uncertainty.. which as we know..often results in conflict . At the very least leaving voids that would be filled by others… Read more »
John I accidentally flagged your post because I’ve got fat thumbs and as I scrolled down I caught the icon. Seems you cant unflag so apologies if it causes any unnecessary moderation 😔
No problems whatsoever mate👍
I do fear for the US. I looked at Joe Biden yesterday and when he put his head in his hands. He didn’t look well at all – in fact he looked like a man suffering from vascular dementia – moods swings, incoherent and emotional. Then you have Trump…he’s not everyone’s cup of tea and he shoots from the hip without thinking thigs through properly and seems sometimes irrational. I know some of his policies worked really well but either he tempers his irrationality and twitter posts or he avoids trying to be elected. Overall America and the west deserves… Read more »
The problem is not US it is Anglosphere.
You cannot have a sane country when almost 1/2 to 1/3 of population hates it. Corbyn had 32% of votes. Same for US.
There will not be any sanity when the Media, Academia bends Left and Extreme Left.
Reality will always have a way to show up in a bad way.
You talked about Reagan, he was ridiculed as a 2nd class actor and called next Hitler.
yes I would agree with you on the middle classes voting Corbyn. I really do think the UK will eventually head for civil war in the next 20 years. There seems no one sensible in charge in the UK either from the right or left. We seem to be polarising as a society because of these evangelical woke warriors. There are some terrible times ahead for the UK unless we tackle the radical left.
Well the good news is we will soon be out of the place. Then we can let the Aghans get back to doing what they do best….killing each other.