An Afghan interpreter who has worked with American forces witnessed the bombing at Kabul airport.

The man, who CBS News referred to as “Carl”, described how he helped care for a young girl who ultimately died in his arms.

"I just saw a lot of people got hurt and people that were laying on the ground," he said, external.

"I saw a baby there and I went to her and I picked her up and started taking her to the hospital."

"I took her to the hospital, but she died on my hands," he said, estimating her age to be around five years old.

"That's heart-breaking. What is going on right now is heart-breaking, this whole country has fallen apart."

"I tried," the interpreter continued. "I did my best to help her."

At least 60 people were killed and 140 others wounded in the explosions at Kabul airport, a senior health official has told the BBC.

UK Prime Minister has been chairing an emergency meeting in response to Thursday's bomb attack at Kabul airport.

He spoke shortly after, vowing the UK will press on with evacuation efforts.

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

The focus will be on getting those personnel there at the moment out. There is already a deadline of 31 August, the question this attack prompts is 'Will that drawdown be speeded up?'.

A withdrawal brings greater risk: you have fewer troops on the ground, the worries will be over whether there will be another attack like this.

A US president has lots of tools at his disposal - drones, jets, B52 bombers - making sure that the US controls the skies over the airport to allow those last troops to leave. But this does raise questions as to whether they will speed up this exit. It was already on a fast track, it may now even be on a faster track because of what has happened.

John Kirby, a US defence spokesman, confirmed American casualties in Thursday's twin bomb attack.

In a statement posted on Twitter, he said "a number of US service members" were killed and others hurt.

Multiple US media reports, citing officials, say at least four marines have died.

Norway can no longer continue evacuating its remaining citizens from Kabul, according to the country's foreign minister.

"The doors at the airport are now closed and it is no longer possible to get people in," Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide told broadcaster TV2.

The explosions that rocked the Kabul airport come on the same day that several countries announced that they were halting evacuations due to the deteriorating security situation.

If you are just joining us, here's the latest on the blasts.

• Twin bomb blasts have struck civilians trying to flee Afghanistan at Kabul airport
• The Taliban say at least 13 people were killed, with videos from the scene appearing to show piles of bodies
• Bombs targeted the Abbey Gate area - where US troops are stationed helping to process evacuees

• Four US Marines were killed in the attack, US media report
• A local hospital says it has received 60 injured so far, with at least six patients dead on arrival
• The bomb blasts came hours after warnings an attack by an Islamist group may be imminent

• It came on the same day that several countries ended their evacuation efforts

• Britain will continue evacuations for now, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said after an emergency meeting with security advisers

The Pentagon has confirmed that "a number" of US service members have been killed in the attack at Kabul airport.

US media reports that four marines have died, with other troops injured.

UN Secretary General António Guterres has condemned the "terrorist attack which killed and injured a number of civilians" in Kabul", his spokesman says.

"This incident underscores the volatility of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan, but also strengthens our resolve as we continue to deliver urgent assistance across the country in support of the Afghan people," spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

He added that "as far as we know at this moment" there were no casualties among UN personnel.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says an operation to evacuate British nationals and eligible Afghans will continue despite deadly explosions at Kabul airport.

"It is not going to interrupt our progress, we are going to get on with this evacuation," Johnson said after chairing an emergency meeting on the bombings.

"There were always going to vulnerabilities to terrorism and opportunistic terrorist attacks, we condemn them, I think they are despicable, but I am afraid they are something we had to prepare for."

A spokesman for the Taliban has condemned the twin blasts in an area they say was under the control of the US military.

"The Islamic Emirate strongly condemns the bombing targeting civilians at Kabul airport," Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet.

The spokesman added the explosions "took place in an area where US forces are responsible for security".

Suhail Shaheen, another Taliban spokesman, said the group were "paying close attention to the security and protection of its people" in another tweeted statement.

Pictures showing bloodied victims of today's attacks at Kabul airport are starting to emerge.

Confirmed casualty figures remain unclear, but dozens of people have been taken to hospital, according to the Italian charity that runs Kabul's emergency hospital.

Mike Jason, a former US Army battalion commander who was deployed to Afghanistan, said that observers “all knew that this was going to happen”.

“The targets are just too lucrative and the symbolic gesture just too attractive to these people,” he said.

Analysts believe the blasts are probably the work of Isis-K, the Afghan affiliate of Islamic State.

Col Jason said he believed Isis-K would "absolutely” make another attempt to attack the evacuations.

“They’ve got the resources and they’ve got the reach,” he said. “They’ve also got targets - the crowds of defenceless people who are desperate.”

Col Jason, who is working with a non-profit called Allied Airlift 21 that is aimed at evacuating US Afghan allies, said: “We have precious little time and we have to fight. We have five days until the final American pullout, and we don’t know what happens afterwards".

Secunder Kermani
BBC News, Kabul

There were large crowds at the scene despite warnings of an imminent attack.

People were in such a state of desperation that they're not going to pay attention to this kind of information. They're hearing all kinds of rumours and they're just trying to focus on getting out of the country.

And they've endured so much already to get to this point. Many have camped out for days in dire conditions. What may have seemed to them a vague or hypothetical threat earlier in the day would not have been enough to put them off going to the airport.

Two explosions took place earlier today at Kabul's international airport, as part of a reported suicide attack.

Both of the bombs struck near the Abbey Gate, where thousands of Afghans had amassed in the hopes of getting on a flight out of their country.

“We can confirm that the explosion at the gate was the result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US and civilian casualties,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

“We can also confirm at least one other explosion at or near the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate.”

There have been some harrowing accounts of what happened at Kabul's airport earlier today.

"Bodies, flesh and people were thrown into a canal nearby," Milad, who was at the scene of the first explosion, told the AFP news agency.

"When people heard the explosion there was total panic. The Taliban then started firing in the air to disperse the crowd at the gate," a second witness said.

"I saw a man rushing with an injured baby in his hands."

In the confusion, the witness - who was not named - said he dropped the documents he hoped would help him board a flight with his wife and three children.

"I will never want to go (to the airport) again. Death to America, its evacuation and visas," the witness told AFP.

Image source, EPA

Today's bombing at Kabul airport came after warnings from several countries that the area could be a target, as thousands gathered there in the hope of leaving the country.

The UK warned just hours ago that a "highly lethal" terror attack could be carried out at any point.

Armed Forces minister James Heappey said there were "very credible" reports of a "severe" threat in the Afghan capital.

The US earlier advised Americans in Afghanistan , externalnot to travel or gather at the airport "because of security threats outside the gates".

Australia also issued an alert, telling those outside the airport to leave immediately.

However, many Afghans desperate to flee the Taliban remained at the airport gates, ignoring the warnings.

Former US National Security Adviser, HR McMaster, has condemned the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and said today's attack was "only the beginning".

Gen McMaster, who served as a senior US officer in Afghanistan, told BBC News the US had prioritised "getting the hell out of there, regardless of what the consequences will be" and that the attack at Kabul airport was "what happens when you surrender to a terrorist organisation".

“Maybe this moment is the time that we can stop our self delusion that these groups are separate from one and other and recognise that they are utterly intertwined and interconnected, and what we are seeing is the establishment of a terrorist, jihadist state in Afghanistan. And all of us will be at much greater risk as a result."

He said his former boss, President Donald Trump, had been "played" by the Taliban in negotiations last year. Mr Trump agreed to remove US troops from Afghanistan within 14 months.

Image source, U.S. Army Public Affairs

Image source, Getty Images

French President Emmanuel Macron says the situation surrounding Kabul airport is now "extremely tense".

"This leads us to... advise each and every person to exercise the greatest caution in a context which we have no control over," he said.

Macron said that, despite the attack, France intended to continue its evacuation operation, as long as a safe environment could be guaranteed.

"For several days France, along with other allies, has been doing the upmost in this situation, and we will continue to do so," he said.

France has so far evacuated 115 French citizens and 2,000 Afghans.

The country has said its last plane will leave tomorrow evening.

Afghan freelance journalist Aisha Ahmad has tweeted that she has now lost contact with a friend in Afghanistan, who she had tried to get to leave the area.

The journalist didn't reveal her friend's identity.