The United States and allies urged Afghans to leave Kabul airport on Thursday, citing the threat of an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants, as Western troops hurry to evacuate as many people as possible before an Aug. 31 deadline.
Pressure to complete the evacuations of tens of thousands of foreigners, and Afghans who helped Western countries during the 20-year war against the Taliban, has intensified. U.S. and allied troops have to to switch their focus in the coming hours or days to the logistics of their own withdrawal.
In an alert issued on Wednesday evening, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul advised citizens to avoid travelling to the airport and said those already at the gates should leave immediately, citing unspecified “security threats”.
In a similar advisory, Britain told people to move away from the airport area. Its armed forces minister, James Heappey, said intelligence about a possible suicide bomb attack by IS militants had become “much firmer”.
“I can’t stress the desperation of the situation enough. The threat is credible, it is imminent, it is lethal. We wouldn’t be saying this if we weren’t genuinely concerned about offering Islamic State a target that is just unimaginable,” Heappey told BBC radio.
A Western diplomat in Kabul said areas outside the airport gates were “incredibly crowded” again despite the warnings.
Australia also issued a warning for people to stay away from the airport while Belgium ended its evacuation operations because of the danger of an attack.
The Netherlands said it expected to carry out its last evacuation flight on Thursday. German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said this was the most dangerous phase of the evacuation process.
The warnings came against a chaotic backdrop in Kabul, where the massive airlift of foreign nationals and their families as well as some Afghans has been under way since the day before the Taliban captured the city on Aug. 15, capping a lightning advance across the country as U.S. and allied troops withdrew. (Reuters)
