The high-risk Kabul airlift operation to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies still faced "specific, credible threats", the Pentagon said Friday, one day after a suicide bomber targeted the throng trying to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, killing scores of people including 13 US servicemen.

The blast claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group targeted US forces, but hit hardest the mass of people who had converged on the airport in a desperate bid to escape the Taliban's feared hardline rule.

At least 72 civilians and 13 American troops were killed, according to various authorities, in an attack that came after a chorus of warnings of an imminent threat to the US-led evacuation effort, with the clock ticking towards an August 31 deadline.

US media reports suggested the toll could be more than double that, but officials in Kabul did not immediately reply to AFP inquiries about the figure.

"We still believe there are credible threats... specific, credible threats," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

"We certainly are prepared and would expect future attempts, absolutely," he said.

The Pentagon clarified that there was one explosion Thursday, not two as previously believed.

At the White House, President Joe Biden's press secretary Jen Psaki said the country's national security experts have said another attack is "likely" and the next few days will be "the most dangerous period to date".

There are more than 5,000 people inside the airport left to evacuate, US General Hank Taylor said, stressing that airlifts would continue "until the last moment".

Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi said on Twitter that fighters had moved into parts of the military side of Kabul airport and were in "control", but the Pentagon pushed back, with Kirby saying gates and operations were still being run by the US military.

Determined to halt two decades of war in Afghanistan, Biden has insisted that he would stick to his August 31 deadline to end the airlift.

"We will complete the mission," Biden said Friday.

The veteran Democrat, who has come under enormous criticism at home and abroad for his handling of the Afghan crisis and the US military withdrawal, has pledged to punish those responsible for the suicide blast.

"We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," he said.

- Refugee exodus -

About 105,000 people have been flown out of the country since August 14, the day before the Taliban swept to power, according to the US government.

Some Western allies, including Britain and Spain, announced an end to their airlifts on Friday, following other nations such as Canada and Australia earlier in the week.

Many have repeatedly warned that it will be impossible to get all at-risk Afghans out by Tuesday.

More evacuation flights left Friday, with queues of people seen lining up on the tarmac, but there were no more crowds near the site of the blast, according to AFP reporters.

The Taliban blocked off the main routes to the airport as well as side roads.

The United Nations said Friday it was bracing for a "worst-case scenario" of up to half a million more refugees from Afghanistan by the end of 2021.

- Women's 'innate right' to work -

The Taliban have promised a softer brand of rule compared with their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, which ended when the United States invaded Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks.

But many Afghans fear a repeat of their brutal interpretation of Islamic law, as well as violent retribution for working with foreign militaries, Western missions or the previous US-backed government.

The role that women will be allowed to play in society has been one of the biggest concerns since the Taliban takeover, after women were banned from work and education and confined to the house during the group's previous rule.

Taliban official Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the former deputy chief negotiator of peace talks in Doha, said Friday that women have "an innate right" to work.

"They can work, they can study, they can take part in politics and they can do business," he told a press conference.

Stanikzai underlined that Afghans with the right visas will be legally allowed to travel after the formation of a government, including those who worked for the Americans.

- 'More extreme' -

The Taliban have allowed US-led forces to conduct the airlift while they finalise plans for their government to be announced as soon as the American troops have left.

But the Islamic State jihadists, bloody rivals of the Taliban with a record of barbaric attacks, were intent on capitalising on the chaos in Kabul.

In recent years, the Islamic State's Afghanistan-Pakistan chapter has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in those countries.

It has massacred civilians at mosques, shrines, public squares and even hospitals.

"These are people that are even more extreme than the Taliban and are basically at war with the Taliban," Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said.

The attack led to the worst single-day death toll for the US military in Afghanistan since 2011.

As the Taliban work on forming a government, Psaki said there would be "no rush to recognition" by Washington or its international partners.

Only one suicide bomber in Kabul attack: Pentagon
Washington (AFP) Aug 27, 2021 - Only one suicide bomber carried out the deadly attack at the Kabul airport, the Pentagon said Friday, correcting its earlier assessment that there were two bombers and two separate explosions.

"We do not believe that there was a second explosion at or near the Baron hotel, that it was one suicide bomber," General Hank Taylor said.

It had been believed there was a second blast at that hotel near the airport.

The attack Thursday killed at least 85 people, including 13 US troops, and opened up a deadly new chapter in the drama unfolding at Kabul airport, as thousands of people fearing Taliban rule try to escape their own country in a frantic US-led airlift due to conclude on August 31.

The Pentagon also said the evacuation drive could be hit with more attacks like the one Thursday, which was claimed by the local arm of the Islamic State group.

"We still believe there are credible threats... specific, credible threats," said US military spokesman John Kirby.

With more than 100,000 people spirited out of Afghanistan since August 14 as part of the airlift, Taylor said 5,400 more are still at the airport awaiting evacuation.

He said the United States will be able to airlift people out "until the very last moment."

Italy's last flight leaves Kabul, ending evacuation mission
Rome (AFP) Aug 27, 2021 - Italy's last evacuation flight from Kabul left Afghanistan on Friday, ending the country's airlift operation, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said.

De Maio said "that as well as Afghan civilians, the flight will bring back to Italy our envoy Stefano Pontecorvo," the Italian diplomat serving as NATO's senior civil representative to Afghanistan.

The flight, which had "just taken off", is also carrying the last Italian soldiers who were still on site, he tweeted.

Di Maio had told an earlier press conference in Rome with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the C-130 plane would soon leave Kabul.

He added that all the Italian nationals who wanted to leave had been evacuated, along with around 4,900 Afghan civilians.

Italian consul Tommaso Claudi was on board the last flight as well as Pontecorvo.

"Leaving Kabul with a heavy heart. My gratitude to all #NATO allies & partners for a massive evacuation effort from #Afghanistan despite all challenges," Pontecorvo tweeted.

"NATO played a key role in getting thousands out and is committed to getting others to safety."

Italy has evacuated 4,832 Afghans since June, the defence ministry said in a statement Thursday evening.

Italy was one of the five countries most involved with NATO's "Resolute Support" Mission in Afghanistan, along with the United States, Turkey, Britain and Germany.

The defence ministry said 53 Italian soldiers were killed and 723 wounded out of the 50,000 the country deployed to Afghanistan over the two-decade war.

Since the Taliban seized control of the country on August 15 as the NATO troops left, Afghans and foreign nationals have been racing to flee.

The huge crowds waiting to be evacuated were the target of twin suicide bombs outside Kabul airport on Thursday that killed at least 85 people, including 13 US troops.

During his visit to Rome Friday, Lavrov also met with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

They discussed the importance of ensuring stability and security in Afghanistan, tackling the humanitarian emergency and ensuring respect for human rights, particularly those of women, Draghi's office said.

China says Kabul attacks show Afghan security situation 'severe'
Beijing (AFP) Aug 27, 2021 - China on Friday condemned the deadly attacks by Islamic State suicide bombers outside Kabul airport, saying Afghanistan still faces a "complex and severe" security situation as the United States withdraws.

Two blasts killed at least 85 people including 13 US soldiers near the airport on Thursday, ripping through crowds desperate to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

The Islamic State group said it carried out the attacks.

The blasts show "the security situation in Afghanistan is still complex and severe", Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters on Friday.

"China is shocked by and strongly condemns the explosions," Zhao said, adding that the ministry had not received any reports of Chinese casualties.

More than 100,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban swept to power on August 15, with many Afghans desperate to escape the feared hardline rule of the Islamists.

The Taliban have allowed US-led forces to conduct the airlift while they finalise plans for a government to be announced after the American troops leave.

But Islamic State jihadists, rivals of the Taliban with a record of barbaric attacks in Afghanistan, were intent on capitalising on the chaos in Kabul.

Zhao on Friday said China "hopes the relevant parties can take effective measures to ensure a smooth transition of the situation".

Beijing has said it is ready to deepen "friendly and cooperative" relations with Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in a lightning offensive amid the chaotic pullout of American troops.

There is a potential resource boom to be had from Afghanistan's vast copper and lithium mines but experts say the perilous security situation means any immediate commodities rush by Chinese firms is unlikely.

China, which shares a 76-kilometre (47-mile) border with Afghanistan, is wary that its neighbour could become a staging ground for Muslim-minority Uyghur separatists looking to infiltrate the sensitive border region of Xinjiang.

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