so abbey gate itself like all of the gates, a large heavy metal door. a lot of pressure often against it. a lot of time we've seen in the past security forces firing shots over the heads of people to get them to move back. people rarely listen to that. and added desperation today as well because like yesterday, it seems that abbey gate has been fully closed i was told this morning. so no siv applicants able necessarily to get in. that would have added to the pressure. and on top of that as well, we're at this point seeing some allied military of the united states leaving. we know that the australian and canadians and turkish and others have beginning their withdrawal and if not completed it. britain may have been starting their wrack up today. i'm speculating here, with you the british have to get from the baron hotel into the main compound of the airport proper. so it is unclear which personnel were caught in this. we understand u.s. personnel were there as well. in the video i saw yesterday, you could see u.s. personnel and british walking along the r

they were not at abbey gate. were at a different gate called southwest gate and they heard the blast go off and felt it. they decided to go home. it is not worth it to them anymore. my friend's brother had been waiting at home for days for communication from the embassy, but when it became more and more clear that the window of opportunity was closing, this family made the decision to take the wife and the four young kids, we are talking about a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old. and abbey gate was discussed among the family, especially because this is the gate that is more likely that you might be plucked out of the crowd by u.s. military. they knew the risk and knew exactly what the embaa scioscia was alerting everyone. there might be a bombing, a suicide bombing. listen to why this decision was so desperate for them. >> this was basically a suicide mission for me and my family. we will take this chance and hopefully, we will not be targeted, you know. so, it was like it was living or die and that's the decision that

officials are generally at the abbey gate. were any of the injured or killed military or civilians who were working that gate? the gates have been closed in recent hours because of the ongoing security threat that really stepped up in the last 12 to 24 hours. we're trying to figure out if anyone was hurt on killed. >> this splinter group of isis, worn enemies of the taliban, what more can you tell us about this particular terror group isis-k. >> well, craig, as you mentioned their a splinter group of isis. when isis made all of those gains in iraq and syria, they want widen their footprint. so they move into afghanistan around 2014-2015. and immediately got into a fight with the taliban. it was about 2017 and basically made significant investments. but the numbers still remained in afghanistan. there is about 200 or 300 of them. several dozen of them may have been in the prisons that were sort of like the doors flung open when kabul fell, and they're a very hardened bunch of people. they're very extreme. they have an extremely

we were at abbey gate midday yesterday. this is the real front line here, where american soldiers and marines, din low mats and other troops risked their own lives to help the most vulnerable. these are the final steps that lead to the gate, the perimeter wall guarded by marines, trying to separate friend from foe. >> abbey gate, follow the water. >> reporter: the last stop is the guard tower, right opposite today's blast site. inside, troops keeping watch on the crowds below. we saw one man wave his blue u.s. passport and the troops responded immediately. >> i can help you get in! abbey gate. >> you is have to wait over there. >> reporter: after the tower, it is a handful of steps out into the crowds. through the gates to the ditch that separates thousands of people from their hopes of getting inside the airport to freedom. these are just devastating, heartbreaking scenes here. these people down here are stood in sewage water up to their knees and this is what i've been saying. this is the difference potentially between th

there was a blast close to the abbey gate. that's one of the southern perimeter points of access for evacuees going into kabul international airport. then the other blast was close to the baron hotel. that has been up until extremely recently the british base of operations with the air assault brigade. also evacuees coming into the baron and moved through the abbey gate and into kabul international airport. the road at that point is bounded on both sides by blast walls which will concentrate any kind of the blast upwards and up and down the road. it's a way of accelerating or magnifying the capacity of any explosive devices to have it go off in a relatively confined space. but particularly inside walls that are designed to reflect back any kind of a blast. so the scenes we've seen and we've had to blur the videos. unfortunately i had to watch the raw versions. they are of carnage. there are reports from the pentagon of a number of american casualties. we don't know how many. we don't know what condition they're in. and as you

explosion outside abbey gate. tentially some americans outside that same gate. the explosion unclear how big comes hours after the state department warned americans outside to quote leave immediately due to the increasing terrorist threat. also lucas reports the secretary of state blinken said yesterday there was a very real possibility of an attack. that's in the pentagon. we should get a briefing in 35 minutes. back to doha for trey yingst. what have you heard? >> good morning. we're following this breaking news out of kabul right now. reports of an explosion outside of the abbey gate, one of the main three gates on the ground there at the airport in kabul. remember there were thousands of people lining up over the past several days trying to get out of the country not just afghan civilians but also foreign nationals including american and british citizens. isis-k a small organization in eastern afghanistan. this is an offshoot of the islamic state that started back in 2014 responsible for a lot of attacks in afg

citizens to evacuate the area, including abbey gate, immediately.he ambassador with this warning just hours before the blasts. >> being part of these huge crowds that are meeting around the gates and entrances to the airport is dangerous. we're obviously concerned about our own people as well. >> it was obvious to me that we had very good tactical intelligence on the threat picture in and around the airport. the warnings that came out were specific, and unfortunately played out almost exactly as they had determined. >> reporter: the group claiming responsibility, isis-k, a fundamentalist offshot of islamic state and enemy of the taliban. >> the threat from isis is extremely real. we've been talking about this for several days. we saw it actually manifest itself here. >> for those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes america harm, know this. we will not forgive. we will not forget. we will hunt you down and make you pay. >> reporter: in the midst of a massive evacuation operation, more than 100,000 people have left since the begi

there's the abbey gate. then there's a stretch of road bounded by blast walls and then there's an entrance into the baron which historically have been secure, almost bounded within the secure perimeter of the main airport. that's why the british used it as a forward operating base as part of their efforts to get evacuees through. it was easier, slightly easier to get for afghans to the baron gates, sometimes for foreign nationals. they even had a secret entrance being used to exfiltrate a lot of foreign nationals with the help of british special forces around the back. it was a central part of the evacuation. it was a central part of the british parachute regiment, air assault brigade there in force. i saw them in the airport yesterday. the british numbers in the airport going up. that indicated they were winding down their operations there. there's been no reports of british casualties. that's striking. there's a gap. you go from one gate to the other through a sort of area of no man's land, in all project,

marines who were injured in the explosion at the abbey gate. two explosions, one at the gate and one at the very nearby baron hotel and that gate has been a place where u.s. military have been guarding for the past week or so, particularly u.s. marines and u.s. soldier, but there is also as you well know there have been counselor affairs officers helping the marines and telling them who they can let through that gate. many americans have been meeting nearby at the baron hotel so that they can walk the short distance across to the abbey gate and get access to the airport. this is also a place we've seen a lot of video just recently outside of this gate because it's one of the locations that had a large crowd gathering for several days. that presented a real security concern to u.s. military officials because they weren't exactly sure who might be inside that crowd. last saturday, the u.s. got very specific intelligence that isis-k, the isis affiliate there in afghanistan wanted to carry out attacks at the airport and particularly to target americ

citizens at the abbey gate, east gate or north gate should leave immediately. that, of course, was the same guidance they were giving some 24 hours ago. but now it has changed. just to give a little context for you, harris. yesterday i have been tracking in realtime an afghan ally who is trying to get his wife and five children out. he is an siv applicant, approved and he was trying to make his way from that barron hotel trey was talking about 200 yards into the abbey gate. he did not make it. he tried to get as far as he could. he could not. he claims the taliban beat his wife. he was not able to access it. now with these two attacks and this situation clearly there is a message being sent to those americans and afghan allies to not even try to make it out at this point. now that's important, harris, because we learned from secretary blinken yesterday that any contingency plan to get americans out beyond the august 31st deadline was dependent upon public commitments from the taliban now in control of kabul to insure their safe passage. that clearly is not capa

embassy in kabul warned americans, leave the abbey gate immediately that gate and others at the airport because of a known security threat. this satellite image from this week shows the massive crowds of afghans that have been gathering at that abbey gate and here's a photo of u.s. and british troops at the abbey gate just yesterday pentagon officials say they have been relying on taliban check points to do the first screening and searching of people before they get to the abbey gate and come face to face with more screeners in the presence of u.s. troops. the u.s. general overseeing this evacuation says roughly 1,000 americans are believed to still be in afghanistan with just five days left to evacuate. president biden says he's ready to deploy additional troops if the military deems them necessary, but the general said earlier today he has enough troops in the airport now. the white house says the american flag would be lowered and now it has above the white house and around the world we haven't seen a day this bloody in afghanistan for years. there has not been a combat death there s

first of all, there was the bomb near abbey gate, and obviously as people moved away from that area, there was a 2nd bomb at nearby bar. and so tell where some americans had gathered but were told what evacuated just before that 2nd bomb went off. so that may have stopped the death toll of americans. if there is any being much greater. what we can confirm from the pentagon is that there have been a number of american casualties. no one unnamed us, official says, there are 3 from the pentagon. what they are saying officially is that there are a number of american casualties. no idea how many new idea how serious they are at this point. hopefully that will become clearer in the next hour or so. but it's, kimberly was rightly pointing out was sitting in the situation room with a secretary of state and also a secretary of defense. joe biden will get easy access to that information. he will know that before we even get a sniff of that information. clearly, there have been contingency plans drawn up because joe biden said he wants the evacuation to be done by august 30. first. he was prese

what we also know is that security has been a concern, and add to that the abbey gate, and it is well known to the viewers at this point. that is the gate we saw that a baby was lifted over a u.s. marine grabbing the baby up and took him in for medical treatment. it is also the gate that is the site of large crowds where people are desperately trying to get through the gate and on to the evacuation flights. because of the large crowds, the u.s. is worried about the security there and not among the evacuees, but the possibility of some nefarious element such as isis-k could infiltrate the crowds and carry out an attack. as you mentioned, it is unlikely that isis-k was behind the attacks. there is no firm attribution, but the threats that the u.s. was tracking were exactly what we saw carry out today. the concern of a suicide bomber or the suicide attack or the vehicle-borne improvided sight, and carry out to see the images today. what we are hearing from the pentagon, several u.s. military were among the wounded and killed and reports of dozen afghan civilians wound and killed here, ge

department had warned to stay away from three specific gates, the east gate, the north gate and the abbey gateit is the last of those gates where this attack took place. >> let's go to kaitlan collins at the white house. we know that the president was in the situation room. when should we expect to hear from the president? what do we know about what is happening there now? >> reporter: it is not clear yet. the schedule is basically completely in flux right now as they are trying to figure out what it is going to look like given he did have several meetings on his schedule today, including with the israeli prime minister who is visiting here in washington. that has been delayed, not cancelled yet. it is not clear if that meeting is still expected to go forward. the president also is supposed to meet slirvirtually with goves to talk about resettling refugees from afghanistan. that has been cancelled. the briefings have been delayed. a lot is fluid as they're monitoring the situation, monitoring what has happened to service members on the ground, what is going on with the afghan allies still stan

we found out later he was not at abbey gate. he went to the southwest gate, thankfully not anywhere close to where this bomb went off. he is okay, his family is okay but i want to emphasize to these viewers at home, these families are playing a deadly game of chess with their lives. this is russian roulette for them. on one hand they're sitting at home, wondering what's going to happen, will the taliban come find them? these are people fought with the u.s. military. they were translateors. they trained the afghan military. but on the other hand they should think just go for it? there are great risks. we find out this morning those risks came into fruition. it is just incredibly tough for these families. now it appears that they're stuck you know, they're on their way back to the apartment. they don't have a backup plan, neil. neil: you know ashiah, you know the region so well, i'm wondering when i hear these latest reports about this isis-k splinter group, hundreds of these guerrillas, whatever you want to call them, circling the

clearly at abbey gate today, we had a larger crowd than we would like that goes to show you the system is not perfect. we have large elements of standoff at other gates and we want to keep that in place. standoff for attacks like this is always the best defense. unfortunately we don't have the opportunity given the geography of the ground we're on to gain that standoff. let me close up your question by saying, we take the threat of these attacks very seriously. we're working them very hard. we're doing a variety of things. as you know, we have ah 64 attack helicopters on the ground. they have very good thermal and optical imaging systems. aircraft overhead that have also had very good images systems. we have unmanned aircraft that have the ability to look. all of these systems are being applied in defense of the air field, all on a continual basis, all vectored by the intelligence we receive and we use the taliban to protect us as much as possible. >> alex horton, west end post. alex, you there? >> yep. just unmuting. general, this is alex horton with "the washington post." thanks for

the idea that an individual came through abbey gate is something we should talk about in a moment, but i don't really see how they can open the gates up and encourage more siv applicants onto the base. they're going to be dealing with u.s. citizens and priority afghans in buses. that may reduce the number of people to put on aircraft. he did talk about a possible timeline when they might reduce that evacuation effort but wouldn't say when it began. the gate though is quite startling. i've been through the search process myself. obviously there are crowds outside and we have seen them in the videos of the horrific blast. you don't pit ut your marines i that necessarily to search people. this was what they refer to as the search lane at abbey gate. this may explain why quite such a horrifyingly large number of u.s. service members lost their lives in this. it's tighter area. you are patted down with somebody in surgical gloves, your bags are searched. quite how it is that the particular individual managed to, if it is the case and the working assumption apparently is that it occurred at

circumstance and say, of course, it could happen, and now it has. >> it happened at what is known at the abbey gate. talk about where that is, whether it's the civilian or military side of the airport and is this the gate that is used by americans trying to get into the airport or is that always shifting? >> well, it shifts depending on the moment because this is so chaotic, but yes, this area over here, this is where the abbey gate is, the main entrance we were talking about. the abbey gate is here, the baron hotel is a stone's thrown away. this has been used to try to get out many westerners. americans, europeans, brits, and afghans as well. one of the reasons, as you mentioned the military side, this is the military side over here. here's the civilian side. remember the pictures a few days ago of people storming the tarmac? that was happening out here. and that sort of forced the military to take a greater hand over here. but in the end, yeah, this is one of the entry points where they have tried to open it according to the pentagon, rush a few people through, and then close it up again. and the

this attack happened, as we have been reporting, at the abbey gate which is very close to the eastern places where ordinary labourers, afghans who are just trying to make a living, go to help people with their luggage, to help people with their luggage, to help people with their luggage, to help people with elderly members, if they have them, to carry them, so they can make a living. it is always very busy and especially at this time, from what i have been hearing. my own family was there. hundreds of people were there. some of them were there for ten days. sleeping in different parts of the airport. spending the nights under the sky. just to make it out of the city alive. sadly, some of them have died. ., ~' alive. sadly, some of them have died. . ~ ,, alive. sadly, some of them have died. ., ~ ,, y alive. sadly, some of them have died. . ~ ,, , . alive. sadly, some of them have died. ., ~' y . ., died. thank you very much for s-ueakin died. thank you very much for speaking to — died. thank you very much for speaking to us. _ just to reiterate what i was saying. this is coming from t

circumstance and say, of course, it could happen, and now it has. >> it happened at what is known at the abbey gate. talk about where that is, whether it's the civilian or military side of the airport and is this the gate that is used by americans trying to get into the airport or is that always shifting? >> well, it shifts depending on the moment because this is so chaotic, but yes, this area over here, this is where the abbey gate is, the main entrance we were talking about. the abbey gate is here, the baron hotel is a stone's thrown away. this has been used to try to get out many westerners. americans, europeans, brits, and afghans as well. one of the reasons, as you mentioned the military side, this is the military side over here. here's the civilian side. remember the pictures a few days ago of people storming the tarmac? that was happening out here. and that sort of forced the military to take a greater hand over here. but in the end, yeah, this is one of the entry points where they have tried to open it according to the pentagon, rush a few people through, and then close it up again. and the

the abbey gate, the east gate and the north gate. this one occurred at the abbey gate. the gates into the kabul airport have been constantly opening and closing. it really is depending on how many sivs and people that are inside the airport have to be processed. but, yeah, these are gates to perhaps a better life. and today it's just been an overwhelmingly tragic day not just for majors but the toll that the afghan people have taken today is a toll that they not different from any other day in afghanistan, frankly. i mean generation upon generation of afghans who always knew violence and they've grown up in it. >> yamiche, to jim's point as i said the temple went from chaos to smooth with remarkable speed. over 100,000 people have been able to start that new life because of this air bridge. and then this today. we knew the final pull out was going to be rough. tell us about life in the west wing today. >> well, this is really a devastating day for america. it's a devastating day of course for our service members, and it's a devastating day for president biden who started

tell us about the abbey gate and who has been going through there. >> the abbey gate this location furtherd at the baron hotel. very short distance away. the hotel was the site of a lot of british evacuations, europeans coming through there but a lot of americans and afghans, too, had been shuttling through this area. when they get here the pentagon was talking about it yesterday, ultimately as close as everyone is, then they get to this point, afghan people coming this way. this is all along that area where at some point they actually have to clear people up close and bring them through. that is clearly what we're -- the fear is the pentagon that's where the terrorists would want to exploit their close contact with u.s. troops as people try to go through. at the abbey gate, that's where the attack happened. >> so it was clearly a vulnerability. does it remain one? >> it remains one as long as you continue to have this crush of people trying to come through that area. if you could have some way that you could diminish this or somehow know who might be a terrorist in a crowd like this, then

they took this photo outside the abbey gate. the abbey gate is where the bomb went off today that. today to think about that. >> yeah. the girl called me and was crying and i started crying, too, because a lot of people died and the soldier i called. he said people are running and they are telling me there are pieces of people everywhere so my family when they went there, i had them inside, tell them we'll let them. in the picture of them and looking at that crowd. my dad served. he was a senior overs. he served with the u.s. forces and afghan forces and my brother was a colonel and my sister was an officer and my family worked really hard supporting the u.s. government and they are waiting on those gates. i look at my nephews and nieces and the pictures of them sleeping in the dirt. it really leads me to think this is not what we deserve. look, hundreds of sivs, they are calling me. can you help us, and i said i cannot. i can only get u.s. citizen green card because from my back channel that's how we do it right now this. should not have happened. all these great people supported

we think one suicide bomb at abbey gates, _ think one suicide bomb at abbey gates, don't know if it'sow— female. don't have that information. don't know much about the second bomb— don't know much about the second bomb except one went off in the vicinity— bomb except one went off in the vicinity of— bomb except one went off in the vicinity of the hotel which is a bp bunker— vicinity of the hotel which is a bp bunker structure and as far as i know— bunker structure and as far as i know there _ bunker structure and as far as i know there were no uk military casualties— know there were no uk military casualties as a result of that. there — casualties as a result of that. there may have been afghan casualties and i'm sure there were but it— casualties and i'm sure there were but it will— casualties and i'm sure there were but it will take us a bit of time to actually— but it will take us a bit of time to actually learn how many afghans and we took _ actually learn how many afghans and we took some of them on board the installation — we took some of them on board the installation and many

occurring at abbey gate, thousands gather ngs desperation to try to get to the airport. iately. >> americans told don't go to the airport without specifically orders. with just five days to go until the august 31st pullout deadline time is running out. the state department revealing as many as 1500 americans may still need be vac waited from afghanistan. secretary of state blinken saying no one will be left behind. >> there is no deadline on our work to help any remaining american citizens who decide they want to leave to do so. >> reporter: not all will get on a u.s. evacuation flight and it's unclear how they'll be able to leave after the withdrawal. amy, we were hearing desperation from people unable to reach the gate because of taliban attacks uses whips, guns to try to deter the crowd, politically saying they weren't going to allow afghans through, this will just devastate this operation. the military will have to secure the base, look after their own personnel first of all the chance of anyone getting through from now until that august 31st will certainly be diminis

c the abbey gate entrance to the home id cards. i international airport there. cobble and also the baron hotel, which is a couple 100 meters, basically across the street from the airport, adding that it was a quote unquote complex attack. and as you were mentioning, were also hearing that isis k, which is basically splinter group of isis isis, of the course on may at this point be responsible though that is not confirmed. this is a very fluid situation. as we continue to get updates about the number of dead, the number of injured absolutely a catastrophic and her epic situation. we're also hearing. likewise, you reported that as many as 5 us marines may have been among those injured possibly other americans as well. we're not hearing of any fatalities, but again, the numbers are fluid. again, as those numbers, the scores of people dead and injured africans, men, women, perfectly children continue to come in. we also know that president biden has postponed his meeting with israeli prime minister natalie bennett, that was supposed to

one blast happened close to the airport's abbey gate, and the other close to the nearby baron hotel. been used by some western nations as a staging point for evacuations since the airlift began. let me bring you the latest line from the british prime minister us confirmed in a statement that us and afghan civilians had died in the attack is at the airport. he confirmed the uk will continue with the evacuation programme according to the uk's timetable and boris johnson condemned the attack as despicable, and he said we are in the final stages of the evacuation. there are the initial comments when the british prime minister boris johnson. here's our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. it is the attack everyone feared, smoke and gunfire on the edge of the airport. two explosions in rapid succession in an area packed with civilians. shock and panic is injured orferried to hospital, kabul is used to atrocities, but this is the first of its kind since the city fell, targeting the very people most desperate to leave. translation:— people most desperate to leave. translation: ., , , ., tra

terrible and as you say they had, i had an alert that it was actually going to be right at the abbey gate and they seem to have to decided to keep it open. but i may make a couple of observations. one is, i don't think we'll ever have a war again where we don't have this kind of spotlight on the situation, you know, and i think it's worth saluting joe biden. and donald trump both for getting us out . most politicians actually don't do the hard thing. i think trump put biden in a position where he had to, but at least we're getting out. now having said that, i think what we've seen is joe biden, his administration has been so incompetent on this. and i have to say, the question i want to answered now is who's making the decisions? because it doesn't seem like it's biden. i mean, i usually when you say that, you know, you say like who's making decisions and you're sort of trying to cause a political fi doesn't seem like biden's in charge. doesn't seem like you're making smart decisions. i don't know who's doing it. we got to get to the bottom of it, and at this point the incompetence is cau

put out another warning, the second in three days warning americans at the three gates including abbey gate, warned americans to leave immediately. so -- >> the same warning that preceded the last attack, correct? >> correct. the previous warning on wednesday night, just hours before the suicide attack named the gate where the attack took place. the abbey gate. general mckenzie warned that the pentagon yesterday that to expect more attacks. the m.o. of isis-k is more attacks. not just with suicide bombers, potentially rockets. it's very chaotic,a very high threat environment. the general was very clear. expect more attacks. that's why the pentagon and the u.s. military went on the offensive to kill some planners. we'll see if there's more targets. >> you're right. general mckenzie was open about that can't rule out what the taliban knew what passed the gate. there's no trust there. i'm hearing reports that the perimeter around the airport has been pushed out by the taliban. i don't know what that means. does that comport with what you've heard and is there any increase or decrease of confid

remaining presence in afghanistan which is the gates of the airport at abbey gate. there have been a consistent threat against frankly any target they can find to fit their agenda for years. so given the success devastating as it has been, it is likely that they will try something again if they have the opportunity. so this presents an enormous challenge for the u.s. evacuation operation moving forward. not least because of the desperate need to keep american service people safe there despite the extraordinary high risk activities fwhaecthey have undertaking literally standing face-to-face with huge afghan crowds on a daily basis, but because it also limits the number of afghans that could potentially get on the base. we learned yesterday from centcom a bit more detail about how the attack happened. general frank mckenzie was clear to point out that those doing searches like the searches that happened when the marines were killed by a man wearing a suicide vest require great proximity to individuals. it is unlikely i would suggest that somebody would be searched by

and uk troops outside of the abbey gate. along that runs a very long sewage duct which is, obviously, full of horrific material and a lot of individuals have been crowding around that and the razor wire, which is used at times to keep people back from the main gate there. it's unclear whether there were marines, at that point, outside of the gate or inside. the extent of the injuries which are, i have to say, extraordinary. the death toll, horrific. might suggest that this explosion occurred in a more densely packed area. there is what's called a search lane within the abbey gate area where people who had been picked out of the crowd are subsequently moved for processing and searching. we heard from general mackenzie, the cent-com chief, that the people who were -- the marines who were searching this individual were so close, they could feel each other's breath on them. so it does possibly suggest to me that he may have been within that inner search lane unless they had chosen to search some people outside of the airport. i

it's our failure of policing the perimeter and the gate checkpoints and the abbey gait issue when in fact we're on the other side of that gate. by and large, the taliban controls that perimeter where the gate checkpoints are. a suicide bomber got close enough and did enough damage to in that exchange kill so many people including so many of our soldiers. but again, to sort of pitch this one on us, if that is someone with whom we're working and they're that happy and content throwing us under the bus and making these allegations, we're continuing to work with them. >> yeah, it's troubling. very troubling. you also have to think about how can we accomplish the mission, right? occasionally that we -- in history, international relations, we worked with people that we didn't want to. i agree with you. very upset about it. obviously as something -- at the pentagon on 9-11, remembers the taliban for what they did, sees them as a terrorist group and believed they supported osama bin laden that led to that terrible tragedy 20 years ago. think about it, 20 years al, almost to 9-11 and dealing w

they were concerned about the abbey gate in particular because so many americans and westerners were transiting through that gate. the real concern was exactly what we saw, some sort of suicide attack that would target many afghans gathered outside there and the military working at the gate, chris. >> since you mentioned isis-k, let me play a little of what the president had to say specifically about that terror group. >> we've been made aware by our intelligence community that the isis-k, an archenemy of the taliban, people that were freed when both those prisons were opened, has been planning a complex set of attacks on united states personnel and others. >> and just to reiterate what you were saying, the congressman that went said he was surprised to see just the crush of humanity at the gates, and exactly what general mackenzie said, there's no way to do this without human contact. so what is the threat assessment for future attacks? >> they are still, the u.s. military is still very concerned about attacks. general mackenzie specifically said they expect more attacks and more att

video taken right after that attack at abbey gate yesterday. what we learned at the briefing that is new, the pentagon corrected the record on the fact there was one suicide bomber yesterday, not two. originally during the day we had been reporting based on information we were receiving from pentagon officials that there were two suicide bombers, one jute side the baron hotel. the second bombing was misinformation from the ground. that happens in situations like this. you can understand. we also understand that at that abbey gate there were also gunmen who at least multiple isis gunmen who opened fire on u.s. forces and most likely on u.s. forces trying to come to the aid of those who were injured. >> harris: wow. jennifer griffin, great continued reporting. thank you very much. those images are so hard to see. well, they are calling this the worst day in president biden's presidency. >> it's the worst day of the biden presidency, nora, and the most deadly day for u.s. service members in afghanistan since august of 2011 when 30 americans lost t

citizens who are at the abbey gate, the east gate, a or the north gate should now leave immediately. leave immediately. just hours after that very explicit warnings, u.s. citizens at the abbey gate should leave e immediately.ve it was hours after that y. directive when abbey gate was, in fact, where one of the two s, suicide bombs today detonated. exactly as that warning from the kabul embassy said it would. and while the days-long crush of humanity bottlenecked at the gates of the airport has been an obvious soft target for a potential suicide bombing or some other kind of attack for days now. how did the u.s. have intel that clear about the location and thh timing of the threat when u.s. persons needed to be told to leave immediately, how did they know when and where? we're going to talk about that tonight. but also, the question of who. because when the group, isis, o. claimed responsibility, isis-k or isis khorasan, the afghanistans affiliate of the islamic state for isis, that, too, was something that we have had repeated, explicit, and increasingly urgent warnings about from u.

abbey gate was one. and then i think the north gate and the east gate. and the american authorities on thursday morning, the state department sent out that warning saying americans should stay away from the airport. on thursday, they closed two of the gates, but they left abbey gate open. we're not sure why yet. there were reasons behind it that they needed abbey gate. during the day, they believe that the taliban may have kept out a couple of the -- the taliban managed to twice push the surging crowd back from the gate, which they say was very helpful. they think that that may have -- the taliban may have helped to prevent a couple of other -- thwarted a couple other attacks. they're not completely sure on that yet. then the third one got through. at 5:48 p.m. he walked up to the abbey gate, defense officials say he was steely, a lot of times when you're about to do something like this, there's a lot of nervousness. you're very -- it's easier to identify. you can see somebody who looks obviously nervous. sometimes they detonate too fast. this person got

the centrist was outside the abbey gate. >> and also there's a hotel outside that that gate as well. and these 2 bombs went off. and what seems to have been a coordinated attack in the u.s. official speaking said that they believe that it was isis. the islamic state. that's where it happened. the north gate. that's where the military is station. but again, there are thousands of us military personnel on the ground trying to help the 10's of thousands of americans and other afghans that are getting out of the country. so i know that there are some americans among the wounded. absolutely as well as. >> so residents citizens from other countries to we have a lot of coalition countries there people on the ground, whether it be military or civilian. they've also been trying to evacuate out as well. they've been pleading with president biden and u.s. officials to stay in control of that airport there. kabul beyond the august 31st deadline for withdrawal because they say they need more time to get all their citizens out. but at this point the president has been firm in complete withdrawal o

there were two bombings but the pentagon believe it was one explosion from one suicide bomber in abbey gate we do not believe there was a second explosion at or near the baron hotel. >> american and allied forces remain on high alert for another possible attack. this morning the president and national security team met. >> this morning they advised the president and vice president that another terror attack in kabul is likely. our troops are still in danger. >> my colleague stephanie pressed jen psaki about safety measures, given the threat. >> can you say the protocols on the ground have changed to >> certainly.evacuations.- they adjust and make adjustments on the ground. >> they're being very quiet for obvious security reasons, you don't want to tip-off the taliban or isis-k as to what you changed. it's going to be a very dangerous job when you have to pat down everybody who comes through the gate. >> satellite images from today show significant crowds still gathering at the airport, desperate to make it out before the august 31st deadline. >> what do you think it says about the level of

a source tells abc news the first attack was a suicide attack near the abbey gate where people had gathered to try to get a flight out. there was a second explosion near a hotel a short distance away. >> while we are saddened by the loss-of-life, u.s. and afghan, we continue to execute our mission. our mission is to extradite u.s. citizens coming to us embassy staff, and afghans at risk. >> the attack happened hours after the u.s. embassy issued an urgent warning about a terror threat, and the white house said 7500 people were evacuated in the last 12 hours. there were some 1500 americans in afghanistan looking for a way out. the u.s. government says most of them have flown out, but not all, and tonight, wayne freedman tells us the complicated story of a two-year-old girl who remains there stuck behind red tape. wayne: the lines, the crowds, the human crush outside karzai airport in kabul. almost everyone here is trying to leave the country. they include the one-year-old girl you see here. she was born in the bay area and stuck there now, much of the frustrations of her family's stateside l

to one another outside the perimeter of the airport. 0ne blast happened close to the airport's abbey gateother close to the nearby baron hotel. the hotel had been used by some western nations as a staging point for evacuation since the airlift began. 0ur afghanistan correspondent secunder kermani gave us this update in the past hour. details still emerging on this, but from what we understand, there was at least one explosion close to the abbey gate entrance to the airport. both british and american as well as other international troops had been stationed there. large crowds of desperate afghans had also been there, trying to get inside the airport. we are also getting reports that there was a second explosion close by, close to the secure compound where those being evacuated by the british embassy were being taken to. all suggestions at the moment that this attack was carried out by the islamic state group. western security services had warned all day about the possibility of an attack by isis, saying one was imminent. the group is much less powerful than the taliban here in afghanistan,

first at abbey gate, the entrance guarded by u.s. marines. a gun battle broke out, followed by a second blast at the nearby baron hotel, a gathering point for american evacuees and others trying to get out. the number of people known to have been killed is still climbing, but graphic images from the scene show countless bodies of victims lying in a sewage drainage ditch. people raced to save survivors using any means they could find. witnesses say a suicide bomber walked straight to the entrance gate before blowing himself up. there was a very strong and powerful suicide attack, he says, in the middle of the people. many were killed, includingof te people. many were killed inc americans. the pentagon said tonight, u.s. troops were vulnerable, as they were in close contact with the crowds trying to escort people into the airport. >> this is close-up war. the breathe of the person is upon you. while we were over-watching flights, we still have to touch the clothes of the person that is coming in. >> reporter: tonight isis claimed responsibility

those who are at the abbey gate, east gate, or north gate now should leave immediately.t to keep them safe? especially if you can really say that these are americans? why are you sending them away? what would you do to people that you care about when you learned they were threatened? would you send them away or want to keep them close? bring them into the airport. why not? where is the answer to that question? look, terrorists are coming for the people that america is trying to get out. right now. not just taliban hunting women and friendlies. this threat is the new isis, isis k. k stands for a province they come from. it's up on the pakistan border. a lot of the taliban, a lot of the bad guys are not eve

the 2 attacks by suicide bombers happened close to the abbey gate entrance to cobble airport. yet the power of hotel he was a sudden explosion. we climbed out and saw that there were many people effected people were held everywhere their brains with scattered. there were also foreign forces who were fall. i saw at least 4 or 500 people where the explosion was really powerful. half were held into the water, others on the ground outside. we carried the wounded here on stretches, and here my clothes completely. bloody name is the baron hotel is controlled by the u. k. and they 2 forces. it is one of the places where tens of thousands of afghans have been gathering after the taliban took control of cobble on august 15th. they'd be going there to have their papers processed before being evacuated out of the country. western governments and security experts in cobble had be warning about a potential attacks around the airport for days. the taliban told al jazeera, it had intelligence about potential car bombs in the area, and also people to stay away. an increasing number of nato countries

a suicide bomber passed through a security checkpoint somehow and approached the abbey gate. it's a moment of vulnerability. a u.s. service member face to face with an unscreened outsider. >> these gates where people come on the airfield, there's no substitute for a young man or woman, a young united states man or woman standing up there conducting a search of that person before we let them on. >> reporter: these are the first u.s. troops killed in afghanistan since february of last year, shortly before the signing of the agreement that began this withdrawal. the news of troops killed coming just five days, about 100 hours before the august 31st deadline to withdraw from afghanistan. still the evacuation operations continue, including for the few hundred u.s. citizens the state department believes are still in afghanistan. >> we will continue after our troops are withdrawn to find means by which we find any american who wishes to get out of afghanistan, we will find them, and we will get them out. >> reporter: the taliban say they will seek justice for the attack as coordinati

the first explosion took place just before dusk outside the abbey gate at kabul airport, leaving bodiestrewn all over a sewage ditch. the second blast happened near the baron hotel, which has been used by some western nations as a staging point for evacuations since the airlift began. there had been warnings in recent days that an off—shoot of the islamic state group in the region was planning an attack. speaking at the white house, presidentjoe biden called the servicemen who lost their lives heroes and said the attackers would be made to pay. the lives we lost today were the lives given in the service of liberty, the service of security, the service of others, in the service of america. like their fellow brothers and sisters in arms who have died defending our vision and our values in the struggle against terrorism, of the fallen this day, they're part of a great and noble company of american heroes. to those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes america harm, know this. we will not forgive. we will not forget. we will hunt you down and make you pay. i would defend