Rocket attack near Kabul reportedly kills child

A child in Kabul has been killed in an explosion as the US launched a military strike targeting a vehicle containing "multiple suicide bombers" driving to the Afghan airport on Sunday.

Two US officials speaking on condition of anonymity said that American forces launched a strike in the capital city targeting suspected ISIS-K militants who were aiming to attack Hamid Karzai International Airport, where Afghans are trying to flee the Taliban, reports the Daily Mail.

A Kabul police chief later claimed that a child had been killed after a rocket struck a house in the Khajeh Baghra area to the north-west of the airport, in what is thought to be a separate incident.

Two witnesses said the blast appeared to have been caused by a rocket. A security official from the recently deposed government told AFP a house was struck.

A source at the Afghan Ministry of Health separately told the BBC the blast was near the airport, while two witnesses told Reuters a house north of the airport was struck by a rocket.

There was no official confirmation and no terrorist group immediately claimed the attack.

 "We are confident we hit the target we were aiming for. Initial reports indicate there were no civilian casualties," A US official said.

Meanwhile, a Taliban spokesman said a US military air strike targeted suicide bombers in a vehicle who wanted to target Kabul airport amid the American evacuation.

The Pentagon said a US drone mission in eastern Afghanistan killed two members of the so-called Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate early on Saturday in retaliation for the airport bombing, and US President Joe Biden said the extremists can expect more.