Britons among dead in Kabul blasts

By Muhammad Mussa

LONDON (AA) - British nationals have been confirmed to be among the dead following Thursday’s twin bombings at the Afghan capital Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Two British nationals and the child of another were killed in the attacks on the Kabul airport that were claimed by Daesh’s Afghanistan affiliate ISIS-K.

“I was deeply saddened to learn that two British nationals and the child of another British national were killed by yesterday’s terror attack, with two more injured,” UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.

“These were innocent people and it is a tragedy that as they sought to bring their loved ones to safety in the UK they were murdered by cowardly terrorists,” the foreign minister added.

Raab made clear that Thursday's attacks underline the many dangers facing Afghanistan after the withdrawal of international forces and the collapse of the government of former President Ashraf Ghani following the Taliban takeover more than a week ago.

“We will not turn our backs on those who look to us in their hour of need, and we will never be cowed by terrorists.”

Despite the reassurance of not leaving those most vulnerable behind, the UK government confirmed on Friday morning that the British military entered its final hours of evacuation and admitted that "not everybody will be able to leave.”

“We will process the people that we’ve brought with us, the 1,000 people approximately in the airfield now and we will seek a way to continue to find a few people in the crowds where we can, but overall the main processing is now closed and we have a matter of hours.”

“The sad fact is not every single one will get out.”

At least 170 people were killed in Thursday's bombings outside the airport in Afghanistan's capital. Among the dead were 12 US servicemen and Taliban guards.