UK defence secretary says ‘sad fact is not every single one will get out’; Biden says the US will ‘hunt down’ Islamic State leaders responsible; American forces bracing for further attacks
- Civilians and soldiers dead after two suicide bombs strike Kabul airport
- Islamic State claims responsibility for Kabul airport blasts
- Boris Johnson: UK will continue with final stages of Kabul airlift
- Kabul airport attacks: what we know so far
- ‘It was like doomsday’: wait at Kabul airport descends into terror
- See all our Afghanistan coverage
Spain has concluded its evacuation of personnel from Afghanistan and all its diplomatic staff are safe in Dubai, newspaper El Pais reports, citing government sources.
Two military planes carrying the last 81 Spaniards out of Kabul arrived in Dubai early on Friday morning, El Pais said.
The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, insisted the Kabul airport terror attack “didn’t hasten our departure” and the main UK evacuee processing site was closed “almost exactly on schedule”.
He told Sky News:
The threat is obviously going to grow the closer we get to leaving. The narrative is always going to be certain groups, such as IS, will want to stake a claim that they have driven out the US or the UK.
We closed the Baron’s hotel almost exactly on schedule. The explosion was horrendous, but it didn’t hasten our departure.