27 Aug 2021

Deadly Kabul attacks, NZDF evacuation flight safe in UAE

From Nine To Noon, 9:40 am on 27 August 2021
EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Volunteers and medical staff bring an injured man on a stretcher to a hospital for treatment after two powerful explosions, which killed at least six people, outside the airport in Kabul on August 26, 2021.

Photo: AFP

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack outside Kabul airport, which has killed 60 people, including 12 US service members. More than 140 people have been injured.

The Defence Minister Peeni Henare says the final New Zealand Defence Force evacuation flight from Afghanistan landed back in the United Arab Emirates last night, before the explosions at Hamid Karzai International Airport. 

100 people, including New Zealanders and Australians, were on the flight. It's yet not clear how many of those people are destined for New Zealand.