At least 13 US soldiers were also killed in Thursday’s blasts, the worst single-day loss for the US occupation troops in Afghanistan since the August 2011 attack on a Chinook helicopter that killed 30 soldiers, Al Jazeera recalled.

One blast took place in front of the airport’s Abbey Gate, and the other close to the nearby Baron Hotel. The detonations were followed by a gunfire.

The United States and NATO countries urged people intending to leave the country to stay away from Kabul’s airfield because of the imminence of the attack.

The war in Afghanistan has cost the United States billions of dollars, nearly 3,000 US soldier casualties and several injured, as well as 250,000 Afghan civilians were killed. About 11 million people sought refuge outside the country.

pgh/iff/oda/abm