and saying there, okay, americans have 3 injured the taliban now saying that as many as 11 have been killed . of course, many phone calls, i'm sure going from european capitals to the us and vice versa. yes. well the one half the u. k. defense ministry is that they're still trying to establish exactly what has happened, whether or not has it has affected any of the personnel or the ask and they're trying to get out. and i remember there's still a large number of civil servants including the u. k. basset to afghanistan inside the perimeter of the port still processing visa applications, and they have said that they will remain that until the last minute. we know that the threat of these attacks, which the u. k on 4th minister was talking about this morning, has brought forward the evacuation flights and ended the evacuation flight for many countries. the u. s. had warned countries to remove the military and embassy

personnel immediately. they said that the situation on the ground was deteriorating rapidly. we've now seen evidence of that, so we know that the last flight for the netherlands, poland, hungary, canada, belgium and denmark have left. they've wraps up their evacuation effort, and denmark has it. and so the dutch government did admit that it probably left some africans eligible for relocation behind. it just couldn't get them all on board. the canadian chief defense staff also said we left sooner than we wanted to. we wanted to rescue more people. we just couldn't, germany is wrapping up it's flights. by the end of the day, france will continue until friday. the u. k. has 11 flight leaving the country on thursday. whether or not this explosion will change that is going to be unfair.

but obviously the situation inside the fort deteriorating rapidly, and most countries bringing forward that deadline for pulling out. indeed, and of course i says we're all waiting to see what contingency plans the us president has. because that will impinge on high know to nato members. also react to what's gone on at the airport so far. i mean there are, was dropping even now, charlie, from the russian news agencies quoting several people have been killed. of course, i was like concerning that too. and as we know, as many as a lesson have been wounded according to the taliban, very close to those outer perimeter walls of the airport. in terms of that list of countries that you suggested that i eat a whole table stopping evacuation process, do you think that parliament in the united kingdom will be recalled as whole in any

shape or form for the emergency session? it's not unlikely what they do, something like that. i mean that that could happen not. it's not something we'll rule out. that might be a cooper meeting that could be called, i think. well, i think this has been on the cause. the acting armed forces minister today, when he was doing the media around said look, an attack is imminent. it could come with an hours, it is credible. this is not just us blowing hot. he said on and i have lines in case, in case an attack happens while i am talking to you in during the interview. so i think this is a, this is something they will have prepared for. they will have a contingency plan in place already. because they were anticipating an attack on the port that intelligence is obviously proved to prove true, but they will have already been putting into play some kind of some kind of plan to

work around, you know, any kind of attack on the apple they, you know, they had a good idea of who might be behind it if it is indeed this. i still affiliate group, i says k, they had a good idea of how it might happen, either with suicide best or a column. so i wouldn't say this is taking them completely by surprise and you know, while that my all to some plans and bring forward some plans, i don't think they're going to be tearing off any plans and they're going to try to be getting everyone else. charlie angela london. thanks very much. let's cross over to patrick coban, the columnist at the independent newspaper, the author of several books, including the rise of islamic state, join me from cork in island. mr. kevin could help you with this back on the program we spoke earlier in the day, talking about the relationship between taliban and the potential for isola tax. it seems that i still have struck in an attack. that is very much the style.

yes, it is. and obviously people are extremely vulnerable, they're packed together. there are some sort of strange vehicles turning up. so it wouldn't be that difficult to do with the minimum expertise. of course, we don't know exactly who did it yet, but it's not too surprising. bear in mind also that i saw likes to top the news agenda when there's something like this in front of all the television cameras that when it likes to stage atrocities like this, the show that it's still a player, get people talking about it that's really been the pattern, so in the last few years, how much of a problem has it been to have all of these? i still operatives released from jails the way that the taliban you might say, thought they were releasing their own people. it's. we knew it was good to cause kale. so if, if what transpires is the conclusion of what happened,

what just 2 weeks ago, then the taliban are going to have to deal with this now as the governing force in the country? yes, i mean a basically what has happened with the fall of cobble makes life easier for i saw with prisoners being release, but even so it wouldn't take many people to stage an attack like we've seen this morning. again, such a vulnerable target from a ton of bands point of view. yes. so i think that there will be want to show the bearing control that's important for them was then looking for international recognition as the new government. they were also probably see an advantage to them of ice or being the new boat, even in international beg amount in afghanistan, rather than the kind of bags you know,

many other governments in the world present themselves as the, the last barrier against terrorism and groups like i saw i saw does seem to operate in pocket, so we don't to think of them as a cohesive force in the same way that they operated in iraq and syria. what's the difference in the way that they've operated? and i've got this done that makes them, you might say a thought in the side of the taliban. well they, they have a sort of cell structure. us gave great attention to sort of attacking them. so there have been some less attacks. they don't, that have territorial control is very limited. but they do have some places where they still have strength and they, in the, in the provinces. of course, the original islamic state in iraq and syria was the size of great britain. the gum

nichols are normal territorial entity, but it was also made sofa, a target that anybody could attack. i saw now as much is behaving much more like so well kind of in the past that you have a sentence structure and you launch sort of intermittent attacks. but very high profile was usually against very self targets. but ones that ensure that everybody knows that your about this, it doesn't matter if from their point of view, i think people denounced them all because that shows that it brings in recruits. it brings in money in terms of the attack here at the airport. you think it's, again, a says we're in the realms of hypothesis here is it is, it's a last, you might say ditch attempt to disrupt the evacuation to hit the u. s. where it hurts or it's nato allies. because once the 31st a arrives and these foreign forces do leave, this is

a taliban controlled country. will i still attack the taliban in the same way? will they continue in your opinion to attack the infrastructure of the country and hit the taliban where it hurts. yeah, but you know what the over you know, what could, to some extent plot play. i saw the game and interpret these, you know, very high profile, very well publicity, publicized attacks as damaging the infrastructure of the country. they don't, they killed in so far. as we know, 13 people were crammed together with no defense. you know that the actual damage to the infrastructure to anything else is pretty limited. ah, and so i so doesn't have to be that strong on the ground to stage attacks like this . i don't very much. if this is a ton of men, may see some advantage from their point of view. these,

the leaders will of being the defenders against isis, and that will help sort of reduce their demonic status and who they in the world. but they also don't want anybody always see last at the sound cockburn, i'll contribute to that. patrick, if you can hear me, thanks very much for your time. i'm sure we'll come back to you again for more analysis from you said with your experience, thanks very much. for joining us, announces era, of course, these are like pictures coming out of cobble not to seem chaotic, to that extent, where i think the injured all either being taken away to local hospitals and clinics. not quite sure what's happening there, but obviously they seem to be a perimeter gate of the airport. let's join the robert bride. our correspondent in cobble has been following events. as the

sunsets are in the capital and draw distressing scenes, we believe near the apple where these explosions happen for our viewers, who are just joining us here on al jazeera. just bring us up to speed on what we know. that's right. well, this was, this happened a little over an hour and about around an hour and a half ago. now this was a blast from the direction of the airport. we understand it was confirmed as a suicide bombing close to one of the gates where and many of the people people have been trying to drop in to try to get on to flights. it has been defended by coalition forces. also taliban, who try to be forcing people back. we understand that 3 us soldiers have been slightly wounded. have been in this attack. there have also been reports of death, at least 11 deaths. we understand with manual injured, we understand that hospitals thereby are taking some of those injured. now there

are also reports of a 2nd explosion, although we don't know more details about that. that was said to have been a slightly lesser explosion. so this is a consent to a bent attack. it's been confirmed by the pentagon. there's been a bombing, and it is something that we have been anticipating or expecting with multiple threats being confirmed throughout the day from multiple sources that, that potentially there was a bombing that was being planned that has been planned by the, the, the branch in afghanistan of islamic states, that's who we believe that the main threat has come from. although it hasn't been claimed by them and hasn't been put on them at the moment. we know from our colleagues down that after the explosions happened, that the taliban was poor forcing people away from the area. there was a large rush of people, several 100 people, according to our colleagues who were down there. witnessing this, running away from the scene of the blas that was firing in the air. we believe that

fire was probably from the taliban again to try to disperse people. the fear with all of these attacks is that once you have one explosion, there is always the danger of a secondary explosion. so we understand the taliban before seeing people back. so that's what seems to have happened so far. yeah, it does bring into question. we've had to repeat from the us state department telling mexicans not to go down there. is that needs to be a stressed sale. yeah, of course i wrote the pitch that we're seeing now seems to be the local clinic, where those that are injured are being fabric to the local clinic, wheeled on the hospital beds and take it into the clinic. and i think that these are just, you know, pictures of, of the orderlies just waiting for those injured to arrive in terms of an update to figures even the russian foreign ministry now is saying that 2 people were killed. 15 wounded. the americans also saying something very similar in the range

of a round about a dozen people injured as 3 of their own personnel injured at the location. it seems that it's quite low level though you know, any injury or death is significant. does raise the question though, doesn't it about security that has to be fulfilled around the international airport and how this impacts on anyone wanting to get to the airport to leave yeah, that's colleagues. i was saying, you're on the talking to the taliban. the taliban was telling us earlier the possibilities of the car bombs, which obviously would cause followed devastation, but then an individual setting off a suicide best. so that have been fears that they may have been larger attacks, more complex attacks using larger explosives. so it is a continuing concern,

i guess the us and all of its allies will be looking now just where they're evacuation operations are up to where they go from here. do they look for an extension beyond august 31st, which we've been hearing about from the us, or do they work in an opposite direction? do they now have to scale things down? we've already seen from a number a number of countries such as belgium, denmark, poland, and so on that day, i'll be happy wrapping up the operations canada, all so france is likely to wrap up its operation by tomorrow friday. i had all given extra emphasis and pressure because of the fear of something like this. so it does beg the question, what does the united states do? i think the, the, the, the object was for the u. s. that by tomorrow midnight, friday, local time, basically by this coming weekend, it would be the only day i leave country,

the military still operating it's evacuation, so it would make it a lot easier for him to keep a control of it wouldn't have to be collaborating with local partners, it could be talking to the taliban as it has been talking on a daily basis with a taliban commander there at the airport about the ongoing operations to keep lines of communication open. but it would make it a lot easier at the u. s. as in the, at the sol evacuation or if you like for it to that well, wrap up its operation when it was finished, it could that have follow, far greater control, but it does back the question. do you feel how reckons to be well over a 1000 us passport? hold is still meant to be able to trying to get to the airport to get on the evacuation flights. and then there are literally the 10s of thousands potentially, of other people who could be legitimate, the applying for places on evacuation flights. and i haven't applied yet. but others who have been approved to get an evacuation flight to need to get to the

airport before the deadline of effectively next tuesday midnight's local time. and the question is, how do they do that? now how do they change the security, the, the, the local, the, the, the guidance so far from the us big especially given the current threats of these attacks by i asked is that nobody goes to the airport. any us passport, hold as anybody's trying to get one of its us flights. don't come to the airport is too dangerous. you go to a place of safety somewhere near by somewhere in cobble you notify. get in touch with people you are meant to get in touch with in the chain of command to say where you are the identify yourself that you are eligible eligible to get on that flight . and you basically await instructions. and so it becomes a far more complicated operation, but it's almost like a special forces operation you groups of people of been brought together and either take it in, in buses or as we have seen, the us doing on a few occasions in the past week or so as well as the germans, they've also been doing this. they actually send out helicopters to bring people

from predetermined run day viewpoints into the safety directly into onto the runway of cobble airport to be processed and then put on to flights. that is the far safer way of trying to get people now to the airport, especially in light of this attack. so try to keep people away from crowds that are around the airport. and especially these gates, which do seem to be extremely vulnerable to these attack. indeed what we get a little bit more information this time from the british by a reuters. they're saying they have no casualties. the suspected suicide bomb which exploded outside the apple there also saying that the attack half and the api gate near the barren hotel. so obviously that would have been quite a busy gate that you would have known all but also the turks are saying they've had no injuries as the germans. but we do know that the americans are confirming that they have 3 that are injured. and we're hoping to get more information on that.

certainly either from washington d. c. or close to where you are, if they, if they make a statement. that's right. yes. so abby gate is one of the gates has been processing people to get on to evacuation flights. is be one of those gates that we've seen over the past week or so where there's been large crowds surging forward and surging back again. and the taliban be making a concerted efforts ever since all of this began. what just over a week ago now the chaos exceeds at the airport. they've had regular taliban all around the perimeter. we've seen the crowd control methods a pretty crude at times. certainly in the early days, firing volleys of shots over people's heads, getting them to push back until now. sadly, i mean that's where we see most of the casualties that have been in the system p because the panic has been stampedes of people. and sadly, people get trampled to death, including childrens and very traumatic scenes. but those have been the, the,

the most serious injuries we've seen so far during the evacuation and deaths. and also italy, about wandering around with a canes and whips and colleagues of ours have been down there and have been wit to the out of the way told you can tell to move. and if i had a cane or a whip across the back, that being quick enough, we had another colleague who got a and a k, 47 rightful, but we shoulder, which selected with a big bruce that will, that this has been going on, that it's only in the last couple of days or so that we've seen the taliban actually bring in special forces. i think it's extremely conscious about the, the, the, the optics of these k artic scenes that it's to try to whenever possible, stop people failing, grab their phones, take journalists off for a couple of hours just to take them away to stop the family. go smashed their i phones anything to try to stop images of this coming out. but they have been trying in the past few days of using special forces and we have seen

a producer was down at the main gate. this is the main passenger terminal earlier. this thursday afternoon and they have made a concerted effort really to push people the back, especially given all of the these alerts and these warnings about a possible i still attack down. a at the main terminal, for example, they brought in these buses completely blocked the gateway. so there's only a tiny passage way for people to get through and be while the taliban really pushed people back from the what was the almost like a square or a roundabout harry or in front an open space in front of the terminal. so to completely clear that of people to push them all the way back and becoming very agitated in the process, you can say that they were spooked if you like, just as much as western governments were by the threats of, of an imminent attack. the kind of attack we've seen, sadly, and of course, rob whizzing pictures now from i'll just there are cameras that are out about in

cobble of the wounded being brought to this clinic and heavily bloodied it seems coming in on bill and says one after another chest injuries by the looks of it and certainly being helped to good ease as that taken in by the hospital or leave to the emergency room. people of the gathering to watch, i suppose the scenario unsold as the injured come to local medical facilities. the treatment will go to alan fish now who is actually in washington d. c. with pops reaction from the high. alan. obviously a fast moving story. the details are quite sketchy, but what we do from the pentagon is they confirmed 3 of that personnel was injured in or around the airport. that's why i'm getting what i'm getting is that there was an and there was a number of injuries,

but no figure on that as yet. and that's from the official twitter account of john kirby, of course, is the pentagon spokesman, so no official confirmation of americans being injured. but certainly we know there was just over 12 hours ago that the u. s. embassy capital issued a warning saying that they had clear incredible threats from i saw k that there could possibly be an attack in an around the airport and the want americans not to come to the gates because they felt that was a particular vulnerability and not to go to the airport until they were told to buy american officials. now it's okay, is the off shoot off i saw it was formed by renegade members of the taliban who, who broke away. and they've been responsible for a number of a tags in afghanistan over the course of this year. and certainly it was a threat that joe biden was aware when he spoke to the country on tuesday. it was

almost like he was saying to the taliban. you need to keep a lid on these guys if you want to make sure we can be of the country by august the 31st. we can do that on that timeline, but that haven't got to be anything that gets in the way in this would certainly be considered to be a harder into the operation of getting as many americans as they can. you've got to remember that of the 80000 that have been evacuated. the majority of them i've gotten some we've had from jen sanky over the last few days saying look, they want to get americans out afghan to what with the united states. and of course, any of the united states partners and people who are considered vulnerable. but this just can't be a free for all for guns. who don't want to stay in afghanistan because the taliban are taking power. we had from the pentagon, less than 24 hours ago was saying there is the possibility that they could send troops, us troops, and took a bill to evacuate americans if that was necessary. you know,

according to the latest figures, from the u. s. site, there's somewhere in the region of $1500.00 americans who are still in afghanistan at the embassy and bull, the american officials. they're in contact with about 500 of them. they're trying to get to the airport and there were rumors circulating just in the last few hours in cable that the united states was about to pull the plug on all its evacuation operations. and essentially from friday until tuesday, the deadline, it was going to be about what they call degrading the military operation, essentially, getting military assets out of the country. so they don't fall into the hands of the taliban joint. kirby, the pentagon spokesman he a bit, remember, i mentioned him earlier. well, he sent out a note saying that's not true that the evacuation procedures will continue, and they will go on until the deadline. and certainly we know what you're biding, has been presented with a couple of contingency plans. they were given to him on wednesday morning by the

pentagon and also the state department. they said look, if you need to extend the deadline, this is what we can do. this is a fluid situation, so those contingency plans will be have to look at again because of what has happened, thinkable in the last couple of hours of causality that we were expecting the president to perhaps give another briefing of the pentagon, given the briefing, generally about the timeline of evacuations. what's happened in the last hour and a half perhaps is going to impact now on that train of thought. and the conversations that they have with that nato allies, those that are still evacuating alongside the us. while there was due to be a pentagon briefing that was due to start 26 minutes ago, it has not been pushed back to 3 pm here in the united states, which is the quick math 900 g, g m t. and so i understand why they've done that, obviously want to get as much information as they can from their teams on the

ground about what has happened. and so they're not standing in front of the cameras saying, well, we don't know about that, or we can answer that question that looks as if they are disorganized, not fully together. so it makes perfect sense from a p r point of view that they would delay that briefing for a few hours until they can get all the information. but it's interesting, there has been this p r, offensive, essentially by the, by been ministration we had from antony, blinking the secretary of state. on wednesday, we're going to hear from the un ambassador at some point today. joe biden spoke to the cameras on tuesday, and the pentagon has brief, sometimes twice a day to give the latest update. they are keen to say, look, this is the biggest, the life that you've ever seen in world history. and we are doing it in a record time and we're getting americans out there. big consent has always been the loss of american lives. that's when it becomes a problem domestically. that's when people stop paying a lot more attention to for news. if americans are dying and so that is why they'll

be checking to see if any americans were injured or killed. and what has happened about escape, alan, for sure. there was all the latest for us from washington d. c. thank you so much, allen. well, let's now go across the atlantic and speak to charlie angela. she is in london, forest. charlie, can you give us a sense of what u. s. allies in europe and now saying about what's going on in couple? well, we know that prime minister boris johnson has just been briefed on the situation and he will be sharing a emergency cobra meeting later on this afternoon. now, the area of the blast, which we believe to be near the gate barren hotel, is a particular area of concern for you. k personnel. its being a hotel that has been used by both embassy and military stuff. its been a possible hold as have been messing to try and get the applications processed.

so we are waiting for the ministry defense to confirm whether or not that have been any injury to you, k personnel that but we have had some reports attributed to the times newspaper that the been a you take casualties, but we need confirmation really from the ministry of defense, now we have how we knew that this attack might happen. the u. k. armed forces minister was doing the media around this morning saying it could happen within hours. he said the threat was credible severe the devil critical. so it would have been anticipating an attack of some kind and putting into play some kind of contingency meshes. but the threat has brought forward evacuation plan, and many nato allies have already left those last flights have already left the airport so that from the netherlands. belgian denmark, and now germany lot, wrapping up all their evacuation efforts. the dutch government saying they might

have left some africa nationals who were eligible for relocation behind. there is nothing that they could do. the information they were getting from the us with the situation was deteriorating. rapidly on the ground and they needed to get the personnel out. the u. k. had planned to have 11 planes leave from cobbler on thursday. whether or not this attack will change the schedule remains to be seen. charlie, you're saying that some of the schedules may change, i believe something like 11 percent military flights were planned for thursday. do we have a sense of where that process is now? all people still going to be evacuated today or has that all been halted so we haven't had an update on how many of those flight.