2 suicide attacks outside Kabul airport; Russia says 13 dead (yahoo.com) "Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul's airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. At least 13 people were killed and 15 wounded, Russian officials said.
"Several Marines were killed and a number of other American military were wounded, a U.S. official said. It was not clear if those deaths were included in the Russian toll.
"One of the bombers struck people standing knee-deep in a wastewater canal under the sweltering sun, throwing bodies into the fetid water. Those who moments earlier had hoped to get on flights out could be seen carrying the wounded to ambulances in a daze, their own clothes darkened with blood.
"A U.S. official said the complex attack was believed to have been carried out by the Islamic State group. The IS affiliate in Afghanistan is far more radical than the Taliban, who recently took control of the country in a lightning blitz and condemned the attack." . . .
For some vulnerable Afghans, there is little hope of rescue from U.S. commandos. Instead, people such as Najeeb Rahimi, a translator who worked for the U.S. Army a decade ago, make the hazardous trek to the airport every day, braving Taliban checkpoints and hoping for a chance to escape.
