Rockets hit neighbourhood near Kabul airport amid US pullout

Witnesses say rockets have struck a neighbourhood near Kabul's international airport amid the ongoing US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The rockets struck Monday morning in Kabul's Salim Karwan neighborhood. 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.

White House later confirmed rocket attack at Kabul airport, and said operations continue uninterrupted

A US 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.

NDTV reported that the Kabul airport's missile defence system could be heard by local residents, and the Taliban also confirmed Sunday's attack.

Captain Bill Urban, a US Central Command spokesman, acknowledged that innocent civilians were also killed by the US airstrike. The suicide bombing that took place last week at the Kabul airport led to the worst single-day death toll for the US military in Afghanistan since 2011.

The US is to withdraw from Afghanistan by Tuesday. The Taliban and US forces had been cooperating in the past few weeks for a secure withdrawal of the US troops.

With PTI inputs