The United States pressed on into the final days of the chaotic airlift from Afghanistan amid tighter security and warnings of more possible attacks Friday, a day after a devastating suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed well over 100 Afghans and 13 US service members.
The US said more bloodshed could come ahead of President Joe Biden's fast-approaching deadline Tuesday to end the evacuations and withdraw American forces.
The next few days "will be our most dangerous period to date," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Thursday's bombing — blamed on Afghanistan's offshoot of the Islamic State group, a lethal enemy of both the Taliban and the West — made for one of the deadliest days in the two-decade Afghan war.
Two officials said the number of Afghans killed rose to 169, one of the country's highest death tolls in a terror attack. The US said it was the most lethal day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011.
The Pentagon also said Friday that there was just one suicide bomber — at the airport gate — not two, as US officials initially said.
As the call to prayer echoed Friday through Kabul along with the roar of departing planes, the anxious crowds thronging the airport in hope of escaping Taliban rule appeared as large as ever despite the bombing. Afghans, American citizens and other foreigners were all acutely aware the window is closing to board a flight.
The names of the Afghan victims began emerging and included a news agency founder along with a number of impoverished Afghans who had gone to the airport in hopes of realizing a better life.
British officials said two of the country's citizens and the child of another Briton also were among those killed when the bomb exploded in the crowd.
The 13 US service members who died included 10 Marines, a Navy sailor and an Army soldier. The military has not identified them or given a service affiliation for the last victim.
The White House said Friday morning that 8,500 evacuees had been flown out aboard US military aircraft in the previous 24 hours, along with about 4,000 people on coalition flights. That was about the same total as the day before the bombing.
But chances to help those hoping to join the evacuation are fading fast. More European allies and other nations were ending their airlifts Friday, in part to give the US time to wrap up its own operations and get 5,000 of its troops out by Tuesday.
The Taliban have said they will allow Afghans to leave via commercial flights after the US withdrawal, but it is unclear which airlines would return to an airport controlled by the militants.
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