After the Kabul bombing: “I know it’s dangerous, but I’m going to go back to the airport”

Published on : 08/27/2021 – 13:27

Victims transported in wheelbarrows, injured children: these amateur images were filmed just after the double attack at the gates of Kabul airport on August 26, 2021, and testify to the violence of the attacks.

^{These images were filmed on August 26, 2021 by correspondents of France 24 in Kabul and by a witness to the explosion.}

“The explosion was very important, five or six hours later, I still can’t hear well”

H., a Franco-Afghan, transmitted these videos to the editorial staff of France 24. He was in the crowd in front of the airport when the attack took place and was contacted, on the evening of August 26, by France 24.

I was outside the Kabul airport, I was waiting in front of the entrance. We were very many, I would say 10,000 people in front of this entrance. And at one point, I heard a very large explosion. I can tell you that five or six hours later, I still can’t hear well.

There were women, children, the elderly, vulnerable. It was horrible, a total nightmare. I did not expect such an attack at all, if I had known it would happen, I would never have been to the airport.

^{Victims of the attack are evacuated to Kabul on August 26. Photos relayed on Twitter.}

I’ll go back to the airport. I know it’s dangerous but I’m already in danger and I have no other solutions [pour quitter l’Afghanistan, NDLR], so I will go back, that’s for sure.

The risk of an attack near the airport stay high, according to US authorities. British Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, James Heappey, had alerted the very morning of the explosion on the risk of an attack near the airport.

^{The video, posted on Twitter on August 27, 2021, shows panic near the airport after the explosions.}

Explosions rang out on the afternoon of August 26: a first at the Abbey Gate, east of Kabul airport, then another near the Hotel Baron, no far away, where Westerners and Afghans who wished to be evacuated gathered before reaching the airport. “Two jihadists considered to belong to the Islamic State blew themselves up at Abbey Gate, followed by armed IS jihadists who fired on civilians and the military,” announced General Kenneth McKenzie, head of the US Central Command in charge of Afghanistan.

The double bombing in Kabul killed at least 85 people, including 13 American soldiers. “We will hunt you down and we will make you pay,” said Joe Biden for the Islamic State group during an address on August 26, 2021.

The United States has pledged to complete the evacuation of its nationals and Afghan allies by August 31, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that the evacuations carried out by France would stop Friday, August 27 in the evening. The operation evacuated around 100 French people and around 2,500 Afghans.

>> Read also on the Observers website: In Kabul, barbed wire and gunfire prevent access to the airport

>> Read also on the Observers website: Afghan interpreters are still waiting to know if they can be evacuated from Kabul