“We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike on a vehicle in Kabul today,” Capt Bill Urban, spokesman of the US Central Command, said.

“We are still assessing the results of this strike, which we know disrupted an imminent ISIS-K threat to the airport,” he added.

Urban said the US would be deeply saddened by any potential loss of innocent life in the strike.

“We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties. It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further,” he said.