As the US evacuation effort in Afghanistan draws to a close, the US embassy in Kabul has warned of a “specific” and “credible” threat for the area around the airport, urging citizens to stay clear of the air hub.
In a security alert issued early Sunday, the US embassy sounded the alarm about a potential attack at the Kabul airport, two days after a suicide bombing killed 170 Afghans, 13 US servicemen, and two British nationals.
US citizens who had already set off for the airport were urged to turn around.
“Due to a specific, credible threat, all U.S. citizens in the vicinity of Kabul airport (HKIA), including the South (Airport Circle) gate, the new Ministry of the Interior, and the gate near the Panjshir Petrol station on the northwest side of the airport, should leave the airport area immediately,” the embassy said in a statement.
The dire warning comes several hours after US President Joe Biden said he was informed by US military commanders that another attack on the troops may come within the next 24-36 hours.
Despite intelligence suggesting an attack at the airport is “highly likely,” Biden said the US would continue to evacuate the remaining Americans and Afghan allies. Over 117,000 people have been flown out of Afghanistan since the start of the evacuation, according to US officials.
The warning also follows a US drone strike in Afghanistan on Friday. The Pentagon claimed that the strike, which was conducted in retaliation to Thursday’s bombing, killed an Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K/IS-K) terrorist group “planner” and a “facilitator,” while injuring another fighter.
While Biden promised more strikes in response to the deadly bombing, the Taliban, which controls the area adjacent to the airport, denounced the airstrike as an “attack on Afghan territory.”
The militant group, which is preparing to take over the airport from US troops upon their complete withdrawal, set for August 31, claimed the strike left two women and one child injured.
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