KABUL, Afghanistan — A bomb went off near the entrance to Kabul’s airport Thursday, ripping through crowds of Afghans and foreign nationals waiting for evacuation from the country. The explosion complicated an already nightmarish airlift just before the U.S. deadline to remove its troops from the country.
The attack killed 13 U.S. service personnel, the Pentagon said, and well over 169 Afghans, but a final count might take time amid the confusion. U.S. officials also clarified Friday that there was a bombing only at the airport gate, not at two locations.
Taliban fighters secure the outer perimeter in plain sight of the American forces that control the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A C-17 Globemaster takes off as Taliban fighters secure the airport’s outer perimeter Sunday in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A C-17 Globemaster prepares to take off Sunday from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Taliban fighters secure the outer perimeter alongside the American-controlled side of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A wounded patient lies in the recovery unit at Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Medical workers attend to a patient brought by an ambulance to a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
British soldiers secure the perimeter outside the Baron Hotel, near the Kabul airport.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A wounded patient waits to be transported to another floor at Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Hospital staff rolls in a bombing victim who was brought by Taliban members.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Two boys embrace as they weep outside Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital in Kabul.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A wounded patient is brought by taxi to a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A Taliban fighter guards a checkpoint outside the airport in Kabul on Thursday night.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Afghan refugees sit on the ground in a group as British military secure the perimeter outside the Baron Hotel, near the Abbey Gate, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
British soldiers secure the perimeter of the Baron Hotel, which is near the Kabul airport.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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A wounded patient is brought by taxi to a hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Afghan refugees crouch in a group as British military secure the perimeter of the Baron Hotel in Kabul.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Volunteers and medical staff bring an injured man for treatment after the bombing in Kabul.
(Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images)
Volunteers and medical staff bring a man injured in the bombing to a hospital for treatment.
(Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images)
Volunteers and medical staff unload bodies from a pickup truck outside a hospital after the bombing.
(Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images)
Taliban fighters stand in the bed of a pickup truck outside a hospital as volunteers bring injured people for treatment after the bombing.
(Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images)
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Smoke rises from a deadly explosion outside the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(Associated Press)
Wounded women arrive at a hospital in Kabul for treatment after the blast.
(Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images)
A hospital worker lifts an injured man out of a car for treatment.
(Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images)
Volunteers and medical staff bring an injured man to the hospital for treatment.
Marcus Yam is a foreign correspondent and photographer for the Los Angeles Times. Since joining in 2014, he has covered a wide range of topics including humanitarian issues, social justice, terrorism, foreign conflicts, natural disasters, politics and celebrity portraiture. He won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography in 2022 for images documenting the U.S. departure from Afghanistan that capture the human cost of the historic change in the country. Yam is a two-time recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award, notably in 2019, for his unflinching body of work showing the everyday plight of Gazans during deadly clashes in the Gaza Strip. He has been part of two Pulitzer Prize-winning breaking news teams.
