Pentagon: Kabul attack involved 1 site, not 2

A Taliban fighter stands guard at the site of two powerful explosions, which killed scores of people including 13 US troops, at Kabul airport on Friday. Pic/ AFP

The Pentagon says it has determined that the attack at the Kabul airport on Thursday involved only one location and not two as was previously reported.

The Pentagon said there was one Islamic State suicide bomber, who struck at the Abbey Gate, where desperate Afghans were crowding to try and enter Kabul airport grounds and where U.S. troops were conducting security checks.

Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, the deputy director for regional operations on the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters on Friday that there was no second explosion near the Baron Hotel near the airport.

He said the bombing at the Abbey Gate was followed by direct gunfire from north of the gate - part of what the military has called a complex attack. Taylor said they have no more details on the identity of the shooters. Taylor attributed the incorrect initial U.S. report about a second explosion to confusion.

In its claim of responsibility late Thursday, IS said one of its fighters carried out the bombing and posted a purported photo of the bomber, posing with his explosives vest before the attack

Two officials said 169 Afghans died, but a final count might take time amid the confusion. The U.S. said 13 troops were killed in what was the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since August 2011.

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