Rockets hit neighbourhood near Kabul airport amid US pullout

Kabul: Rockets struck a neighbourhood near Kabul’s international airport on Monday amid the ongoing US withdrawal from Afghanistan. It wasn’t immediately clear who launched them.

The rockets struck Monday morning in Kabul’s Salim Karwan neighbourhood, witnesses said. Gunfire immediately followed the explosions but it wasn’t immediately clear who was firing.

A witness who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals said they heard the sound of three explosions and then saw a flash, like fire, in the sky.

People fled after the blasts, the witness said.

U.S. officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. U.S. military cargo planes continued their evacuations at the airport after the rocket fire.

On Sunday, a U.S. drone strike blew up a vehicle carrying multiple suicide bombers from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate on Sunday before they could attack the ongoing military evacuation at Kabul’s international airport, American officials said. An Afghan official said three children were killed in the strike.

The U.S. is to withdraw from Afghanistan by Tuesday.