KABUL, 28 August 2021, (TON): Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.

Afghan and U.S. officials said that the attacks killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops.

The U.S. general overseeing the evacuation said “the attacks would not stop the United States from evacuating Americans and others, and flights out were continuing.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said that there was a large amount of security at the airport, and alternate routes were being used to get evacuees in. About 5,000 people were awaiting flights on the airfield, McKenzie said.

The blasts came hours after Western officials warned of a major attack, urging people to leave the airport. But that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country in the last few days of an American-led evacuation before the U.S. officially ends its 20-year presence on Aug. 31.