Kabul
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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has condemned the suicide bomb attack at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport that targeted those trying to leave Afghanistan.

“I strongly condemn the horrific terrorist attack outside Kabul airport. My thoughts are with all those affected and their loved ones. Our priority remains to evacuate as many people to safety as quickly as possible,” Stoltenberg said.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, at least 60 Afghans were killed in the explosion, with many others seriously wounded.

The Guardian put the total number of US troops killed at 12 or more. Three Marines were also reportedly injured.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a statement: “We can confirm that a number of US service members were killed in today’s complex attack at Kabul airport. A number of others are being treated for wounds. We also know that a number of Afghans fell victim to this heinous attack.”

An American official told the Associated Press that the attack was thought to have been carried out by the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, which is considered more extreme than the Taliban.

During the chaos of the attack, gunmen also opened fire at passing cars.

A former British Marine who heads an animal shelter in Afghanistan described how he and his staff where targeted by gunfire after the initial explosion.

"All of a sudden we heard gunshots and our vehicle was targeted, had our driver not turned around he would have been shot in the head by a man with an AK-47," Paul Farthing, who was in the process of attempting to get his staff and rescue animals out of the country, told PA Media.

Before the attack, the US had warned all those trying to access Hamid Karzai International Airport that they should cease their attempts, citing British and Australian warnings of a “high threat” of a terrorist attack at the site by an ISIS-linked group.