Rockets fired at Kabul airport as US seeks to complete evacuations ahead of looming deadline

Rocket fire has apparently targeted Kabul airport on the eve of the deadline for US troops to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Up to five rockets were fired early this morning, US officials said.

A missile defence system intercepted the fire, the official said, and initial reports did not indicate any US casualties but that information could change.

Image: A destroyed vehicle is seen where rockets were fired from in Kabul. Pic: AP

Some of the rocket fire, however, did appear to hit a neighbourhood by the airport, striking residential apartment blocks, witnesses cited by the Associated Press news agency said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

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The rockets did not stop US military jets from Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital, as the US looks to complete the evacuation operation by Tuesday's deadline.

Video has emerged showing what appear to be the remains of a four-door sedan used by the attackers - with what appeared to be six homemade rocket tubes mounted in place of backseats.

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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation.

"The president was informed that operations continue uninterrupted at Hamid Karzai International Airport, and has reconfirmed his order that commanders redouble their efforts to prioritise doing whatever is necessary to protect our forces on the ground," Ms Psaki said in a statement.

Officials had previously warned that ISIS-K militants were looking to target the airport with rockets.

However, the US has experience in countering such rockets and had already installed missile defence systems.

"We know that they [ISIS-K] would like to lob a rocket in there, if they could," General Frank McKenzie head of US Central Command, told reporters in Washington last week.

"Now we actually have pretty good protection against that. We have our anti-rocket and mortar system."

Mr Biden said on Saturday that the situation on the ground remained extremely dangerous, and that his military chiefs had told him another militant attack was highly likely within the next 24 to 36 hours.

On Sunday, American forces launched a drone strike in Kabul targeting a suicide bomber in a vehicle who was aiming to attack the airport.

It came after a suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport on Thursday that killed between 92 and 169 Afghans, 13 US service members and three Britons.

There is increasing concern that ISIS-K militants will launch further attacks on the airport as US troops race to evacuate remaining American citizens and at-risk Afghans, before completing their own withdrawal by Tuesday.

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