Facebook displays a crisis response page for the attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Screenshot by Queenie Wong/CNET

Facebook Safety Check feature was turned on after at least two explosions near Afghanistan’s Kabul airport killed members of the US military and Afghan citizens on Thursday.

Safety Check allows Facebook users to mark themselves as safe during crises or disasters, such as shootings, terrorist attacks or earthquakes, letting their friends and family know they’re alive. The feature is part of the social network’s online hub for crisis response. A page for the attack in Kabul includes a way for people to offer or request help. It also features news stories. Facebook receives alerts from global crisis reporting agencies and Safety Check gets activated when people in the area post about a crisis.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said on Twitter that one explosion struck near the Abbey Gate of the Kabul airport and that at least one other blast took place at or close to the nearby Baron Hotel. Kirby didn’t provide the number of fatalities but confirmed that the deaths included US service members.

It’s unclear from reports what the situation at the airport is. The Wall Street Journal, citing an unnamed US official, reported that at least four US Marines and at least 60 Afghans died from the attack. Reuters reported that at least one of the explosions appeared to be caused by a suicide bombing. US officials strongly believe that responsibility for the attack lies with the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State, known as Islamic State Khorasan, which is opposed to the Taliban and the US, Reuters reported.

Facebook’s crisis response tools are another example of how the world’s largest social network is responding after Taliban militants seized power in Afghanistan, prompting thousands of foreigners and Afghans to try to flee the country. The company also released a one-click tool so people in Afghanistan can lock their accounts to prevent people who aren’t their friends from seeing posts on their timeline or sharing their profile photos.

Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.