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Originally posted by wtg:
Oh, goody. ISIS enters the picture.

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Multiple U.S. troops and civilians were injured when two explosions shook the area outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in rapid succession this morning, where the United States and NATO allies had been evacuating thousands of people from the city, the Pentagon confirmed.

“We can confirm that the explosion at the Abbey Gate was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US & civilian casualties,” tweeted Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, referring to the entrance to the airport, where four sources tell POLITICO that U.S. personnel until recently welcomed American citizens to board evacuation flights.

Kirby also confirmed a second explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, roughly 300 meters from the site of the first detonation. British troops had been using the hotel as a base for evacuating UK personnel.

An ISIS militant wearing a suicide vest was responsible for the first bombing, two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the situation told POLITICO, detonating around 5 p.m. local time just outside Abbey gate. Three sources said the U.S. troops returned fire soon after.

NATO troops have been ordered to leave the airport gates immediately, two people said.

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The U.S. military announced its first reprisal strike in Afghanistan since an attack on the Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. service members and as many as 170 other people, as the U.S. officials again warned Americans to leave the airport because of security threats.

“U.S. military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner,” Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, said in a statement, referring to the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, also known as Islamic State Khorasan, which has claimed responsibility for the Thursday attack.

“The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan,” Captain Urban said. “Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties.”

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"Everybody got it wrong" on how quickly the Taliban would take over Afghanistan, the head of Britain's armed forces has said.

Gen Sir Nick Carter told the BBC: "It was the pace of it that surprised us and I don't think we realised quite what the Taliban were up to."

Asked whether military intelligence was wrong, he said the government received intelligence from a variety of sources.

"It's not purely about military intelligence," he said.

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Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr show on Sunday, Gen Sir Nick was asked how the predictions had been wrong.

"I think everybody got it wrong is the straight answer," he said. "Even the Taliban didn't expect things to change as quickly as they did."

The chief of defence staff said: "I don't think what anybody predicted was how fragile that Afghan government was and how fragile it was in relation to the command of its armed forces."