2 Britons, child of UK national killed in Kabul airport attack

U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Friday that two British nationals in addition to the child of a British national had died from Thursday’s Kabul airport attack.

“I was deeply saddened to learn that two British nationals and the child of another British national were killed by yesterday’s terror attack, with two more injured,” Raab said in a statement.

“These were innocent people and it is a tragedy that as they sought to bring their loved ones to safety in the UK they were murdered by cowardly terrorists,” Raab continued.

I am deeply saddened to learn that 2 British nationals and the child of a British national were killed in yesterday’s terror attack in Kabul, with more injured. Read my statement here – https://t.co/DH7y2ZipEd

— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) August 27, 2021

The Thursday attack outside of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 100 Afghans. Other Americans and Afghans were also wounded.

Initial reports on Thursday said that it was the result of two suicide bombings, but defense officials later clarified on Friday that they believed the attack actually stemmed from one bombing.

“I can confirm for you that we do not believe that there was a second explosion at or near the Baron hotel, that it was one suicide bomber,” Army Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, deputy director of the joint staff for regional operations, said Friday.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson denounced the attack as “barbaric” but said it would not stop the U.K. from finishing its evacuation mission from Afghanistan.

“And we’ve been ready for it. We’ve been prepared for it. And I want to stress that we’re going to continue with that operation. And we’re now coming towards the end of it, to the very end of it, in any event, and we’ve already extracted the overwhelming majority of those under both the schemes, the eligible persons, the U.K. persons … plus the Afghans, the interpreters and others,” Johnson said in a video message posted on Twitter on Thursday.

I utterly condemn the barbaric terrorist attack in Kabul in which Afghans and members of the US military lost their lives.

The threat of terrorist attack is one of the constraints we’ve been operating under, but our evacuation effort continues with over 12,000 extracted so far. pic.twitter.com/DXCFPj9KQC

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 26, 2021

Raab said on Friday that the U.K. would offer its support to the grieving families but vowed that the country would not succumb to terrorist threats.

“Yesterday’s despicable attack underlines the dangers facing those in Afghanistan and reinforces why we are doing all we can to get people out. We are offering consular support to their families,” Raab said in his statement. “We will not turn our backs on those who look to us in their hour of need, and we will never be cowed by terrorists.”