live from paris. i'm mark owen. the main headline this thursday evening -- double suicide bombing. a gunman attacked crowds at kabul airport. at least 72 people have been killed. 60 of them are afghan citizens. it has been confirmed at least 12 u.s. soldiers have also been killed. the attack appeared to target a group of afghan citizens. our correspondents were at the scene and captured these images in the immediate aftermath. we have the latest news, reaction, and analysis in this

special program here on france 24. ♪ welcome to the program. at least 72 people have been killed in a double suicide attack at kabul airport. islamic state has claimed responsibility for the attack. our correspondents were near the scene of the time. live witness reports come from the point of impact was at an area called patton gate. the second bomb was detonated at a gate nearby. at least 60 afghan citizens are reported dead. at the moment, we understand at least 12 americans have lost their lives, including 11 marines and one u.s. navy medic.

the attack was called complex. u.s. intelligence says there could be more attacks to come. >> minutes after the explosion that rocked kabul airport, france 24 reporters saw hundreds of panicked afghans rush into nearby streets and alleys, their ears still ringing from the blast. at the nearby hospital, the wounded started to pour in. >> [speaking foreign language] >> the explosion took place at the aggregate of kabul airport where hundreds of people hoping to flee the country have been massing throughout the day. another blast occurred almost simultaneously at the nearby baron hotel. both were thought to have been carried out by suicide bombers. at least a dozen people, both

afan and foreigners, were killed. >> [speaking foreign language] >> a spokesman for the taliban condemned the attack and said it took place in an area where u.s. forces were responsible for security. earlier on thursday, several western intelligence services had warned of an imminent attack in kabul, citing a terrorist threat from the regional branch of the islamic state group. mark: our reporters are in kabul right now. a little earlier, we received a description of the scene and news of a third explosion. >> we just heard a very big boom, explosion where there is a shelling or another explosion due to a bomb.

it remains to be confirmed, but there was a huge boom just a few moments ago, and while i'm talking, i don't know if you can hear, but there are intense gunfights, firefights close to this direction, two kilometers away from this very airport. it looks like the night is going to be very long, but back to what happened at 6:00 p.m. local time, indeed on the east part of the military side of the kabul airport, which as we know now, the refugees from afghanistan, the one who tried to pass this gate, which is controlled and secure, in the past by taliban enforcers and another path inside by british special forces, and the gates, the entrance to the airport where we

heard a big explosion, and a few moments after that, we saw hundreds of people shouting, crying. we went to a more secure place a few meters aside and then we saw another batch of people covered with blood, crying. some injured. some people were honestly looking like death, like children. it was quite a carnage and a few dozen meters where we are. we are lucky enough to be at this place when what we know now is a suicide bombing detonated. it looks like tonight, a very tense evening in kabul. while i'm talking to you, we can hear every firefight in this direction, which i guess it is very dark now, but the location

of the airport, we have many rumors and reports going on in the city, like the death toll, which is increasing. we talk of dozens of people dead, and it has come from the american administration that some american personnel have been hit and killed during this bombing. again, some difficult time, what we have been experiencing during the last days here in afghanistan and especially kabul with the huge immigration of thousands of people and thousands of people who are going to be left here, which is what people are starting to know now, and now we are engaging in the new phase of revelry, this fighting, and fighting between the taliban and isis, which i just fighting each other, and we are really quite going on the

unknown here where i'm standing. mark: our two reporters who are in the afghan capital. the french president has spoken to condemned in the most firm terms all terror attacks. earlier, he had this to say. >> tensions are mounting considerably. we knew about these risks from the start, given the confusion in kabul and the tension there has been at the airport from the beginning. the next hours at the airport will continue to be very dangerous. mark: emmanuel macron on that visit to speak among other things about the situation in afghanistan, and that overtaking his agenda. macron condemning in the strongest terms all terror attacks.

what has the other reaction been around the world? >> there has been absolute unanimous condemnation of this attack from all capitals around the world almost today -- western capitals, at any rate. we have, for example, the head of the european union who condemned the attack. german chancellor angela merkel described it as a heinous attack on the european people. prime minister boris johnson said he is up to hold an emergency meeting on the suicide bombings in afghanistan, and the united nations secretary general has already announced a special meeting of the u.s. -- a special meeting of the united nations security council to discuss the situation in afghanistan. i think there is a willingness and maybe increased pressure on all of those nations, trying to come up with some kind of plan to see how they can move forward in the situation that seems to

be rapidly deteriorating. rapidly deteriorating because what we have now is the taliban putting a lid on the situation in afghanistan, and you had these breakaway splinter groups like isis-k, which took responsibility for the attack today, reporting a direct threat to the taliban and their leadership of the country. it is simply because this is a soft target. thousands of people are around the airport. isis-k, which has a much more radical approach toward what islam should be, sees many of these afghans trying to flee the country as traitors, so it wants to attack them. it wants to attack or in forces inside the taliban lesson, so it was an easy target. the taliban have retaliated by saying they were not involved and condemning the attack. we have a situation which is

quite extraordinary and something no one would have thought possible just a few weeks ago where you have the united states and taliban working hand-in-hand on counterterrorism, exchanging information, which is what the pentagon was saying a short while ago, where they work together to try to thwart any possible attacks which may be being planned. there are threats and fears that this could be the start of a series of terrorist attacks while this evacuation process is continuing to move forward. mark: joe biden expected to speak in about 50 minutes time. we will take what he says life. joe biden said the threat is from isis-k. there has been a warning that something might happen, and lo and behold, it happens like

that. evacuations do have to continue. >> the united states has made it clear that if u.s. personnel have been killed or not, you have these 12 u.s. military members, 11 of them marines, one we are bees led to believe was a medic. this is the worst death toll for the americans since 2011 in afghanistan. but the pentagon has said it is expecting and has been expecting that there could be casualties. these marines were doing an honorable job trying to fairy as many afghans and american citizens out of the country as possible to escape before the deadline comes on august 31. i expect there will be a continuation of the process. the question is -- will the u.s. want to wind this down even quicker?

because this is the worst case scenario for joe biden, exactly what he wanted to avoid. images of death and destruction which will lead to direct criticism of how he is handling this, whereas most u.s. can citizens are not that concerned about the war in afghanistan and are in favor of the u.s. pulling out. he was hoping to get that done before any of this happened, and now that is not the case. it is not foreseeable the u.s. will launch an attack on these militant groups. what they want is to get this whole process over. foreign capitals are already saying they are winding down if they have not already wound down completely their evacuation. there remains the united kingdom, the united states, and a few other countries. they would all have to finish before the u.s. pulls out on sunday or on tuesday. it is going to be a case that

the window of opportunity to escape from afghanistan is rapidly closing, and that will come as terrible news for those outside the airport who now think they will not be able to escape and may be the victim of a future terrorist attack. mark: indeed. more and more people will be rushing towards the point of exit. this is the last opportunity to get out. this fight warnings that people should not go to the airport, that they should return to safe areas. people will be offered other means to get out of afghanistan over the country's borders, but i think there is this desperation on the part of many journalists, lawyers, judges, people from civil society that this is a last-ditch bid to get out of the country before it is too late and they have a very uncertain future under a taliban that is not a homogenous group, where as part of the taliban is saying there will be amnesty and nothing will happen to you, they

don't know if other members of the taliban agree with that. that is just with the taliban. add to that this other group isis-k selling its own form of chaos. france wrapping up its operation tomorrow. >> yes, they said france would be out by friday night, so about 24 hours more for french people to get out of kabul before it is too late. one of the problems, and i will finish on it, is that the taliban itself is now in a complicated position because it is under pressure from the international community to normalize it self in order to receive international aid, not to introduce such a radical form of islam as it did during the 1990's until 2001 to become known as a pariah in the international community. the problem with that as there are members within the taliban who do not agree with that, and

they are willing to say that they don't want to do that but would rather introduce a harsh form of islam and what they believe should be the right form or pure form of islam, and they will join groups like isis-k, and that will mean there will be more other groups who are in favor of it much more radical approach toward islam, and that may lead to an increase in attacks. taliban do not have the capability, the military capability to keep that in order. either they totally allied with the west to get the aid they can -- they desperately need to get the country afloat or they become as harsh as they were in the 1990's to keep these other groups on board and not receive the recognition and aid they need from the international

community. it is a test right now. mark: indeed. thank you for that analysis. let's take you now from general populace to the head of central command at the pentagon who spoke a few moments ago about the situation. >> the attack occurred at the gate. at the gate, we have to check people before they get on the airfield, make sure they are not carrying a bomb. requires physical screening. you alternately have to get very close to that person. while the airbase is surrounded, at these interface points, these gates where people actually come on the airfield, there's no substitute for a young man or woman, a young united states man or woman conducting a search of that person before we let them on.

i will simply note that before this attack, we have passed more than 4000 people through, so this attack is one too many, but we will evaluate what happened. we will find ways to always get better -- get better. the thing is, you don't want the person getting onto an airplane with a bomb because that would be massively more destructive. ultimately, americans have got to be in danger to really serve this. there's no other way. i cannot tell you how impressed i am with the daily heroism of the men and women out doing this work. the sailors and marines doing that work, and they are right up close with thousands of people going through here, and to be able to get up and do it day after day is remarkable. this time, looks like somebody got close to us. we will find out why and try to improve our procedures.

12 service members dying, nobody ails that more than me. the same time, i recognize we deem to continue to evaluate our procedures moving forward. mark: central commander confirming 12 u.s. military personnel killed in this attack. we are still awaiting further news about casualties. let's bring you more analysis. a professor of international affairs in islamic studies at georgetown university joins us. thank you for being with us. can you give us an idea as to who are isis-k? >> basically, isis-k has been part of, as it were, the islamic state. what we have seen is that although the islamic state has seen major expansion in the middle east and whatnot, it has

continued into africa all the way into south and southeast asia. they are not welcomed by the taliban. although they have evoke the islamic movement, it is very different. they believehey should be leading all muslims and the taliban should be committed to the spread and of taking back territories from, if you will, towers. they look down upon the taliban for not engaging in the kind of expansion and their use of violence. the taliban in contrast primarily -- this is in comparison to the way they were 20 years ago and the way they

are today, they are not interested in expanding and moving in those directions. as your reporters rightly said, they also want to project and connect with the international community, so the question is how much they will accommodate, so that is a concern to the international community when it comes to education a when it comes to the question of violence against other afghans. mark: in terms of what happened today, the fact that foreign soldiers were there and the taliban, sam, that the presence

of foreign soldiers was one of the provocations that led to this attack and the fact that people then want to escape afghanistan, afghan people want to escape. is that the kind of ideal double target than for isis-k? >> exactly. exactly. isis-k wants to move against american military targets in reaction to what happened a couple of years ago, when they were part of a mission to move isis and to minimize their presence in the middle east, and at the same time, they can demonstrate their appeal to people in afghanistan. the taliban saying they are not

capable of really controlling the situation, and they are really not, if you will, a proper islamic group, meaning they are not willing to be affiliated with the idea of isis and their coalition. the taliban want to simply focus on their country and not be involved in fighting outside. mark: in terms of what this means, the taliban taking power quickly on a timescale few have seen happening quickly, maybe united on that one came, but there are all these fears. having said that this was a disparate group, and now there is another player in town, more

extreme, more dangerous, leading to a more chaotic ocome. >> yeah, and i don't think that another player -- i think that other player will have its own success in its eyes, but i don't the good place to anything within afghan society -- i don't think plays to anything within afghan society. isis-k has a history of being incredibly intolerant towards shieh, for example, and weaw a considerable number of shieh i

afghanistan recently in afghanistan with celebrations that the tiban allowed. they did not move against the shieh or other types of muslims. isis-k is playing this game, but i do not see them getting a lot of support in general from the afghan population. mark: in the short term, what does this mean for those people who are trying to get out, people who are heading to the airport, to the borders trying to get out? >> one can certainly understand why you would want to get out. many of them have been associated with americans or other foreigners who had been

there, and they may see now with the taliban taking over that they can now be victimized by it . many certainly worked well educated, not necessarily practicing or interested in practicing the kind of militant version of islam the taliban is expanding toward. the taliban has the one hand presented the image of children being educated in a school, etc., but at the same time, they had been moving against forme anybody who is inn alteative

position and wants to feel safe is planning to get out of the country. mark: professor john esposito, georgetown university school of foreign affairs, thank you for sharing your analysis with us. appreciate your time. u.s. president joe biden as i was saying earlier spoke on tuesday about the threat posed by this new terror threat in afghanistan, isis-k, more radical, more dangerous than the taliban. many analysts expect this attack could be a preview of the shape of things to come. >> they call themselves the islamic state course on or isis-k, after the historic namae of the region which includes parts of afghanistan and central asia. months after they declared a caliphate, disaffected fighters

from the pakistan taliban and afghan militants created the terrorist group as a regional chapter. >> they establish themselves in afghanistan counting on those who were disappointed by the taliban, which gave them a foothold in afghanistan. >> they were formally acknowledged by i.s. central leadership after establishing a foothold in afghanistan's northeastern provinces. they are a sworn enemy of the taliban, whom they consider not hard-line enough in their views of islamic rule. they suffered heavy losses during the taliban takeover, and recent estimates by securit expes put their gures from 2000 active fighters to as low as 500. ited natns and u.s. mitary assessments believe isis-k fighters now largely operate through covert cells based in or

around cities. still, they have managed to carry out a number of high-profile attacks in the country. >> i have conducted many attacks , many deadly attacks using largely ied's, suicide bombers, and even bombing with rockets. >> last november, they targeted kabul university, and they are also believed to be responsible for a horrific attack on a maternity ward. 16 women and two navies were killed. in may, a car bombing killed 80 schoolgirls. despite not holding any territory in the region, a united nations report concluded the group remains active and dangerous and is seeking to grow its ranks with jihadists and

those unhappy with taliban rule. mark: the evacuation deadline, as we know, is august 31. the taliban issued a statement to condemn this double suicide atta

08/26/21 08/26/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> our highest priority right now is evacuating american citizens, evacuating afghans who worked with us, and afghans who are at risk with the priority around women and children. amy: as the u.s. begins to wrap up evacuations from the kabul airport, we will speak to an afghan college lecturer about why he has decided to stay in afghanistan.