Warning of Terrorist Attack at Kabul Airport

More than 82,000 people have already been released by planes from Kabul, which has fallen into the hands of the Taliban on 15 August.

The countries are rushing to evacuate people by the August 31st deadline.

Thousands of people are still waiting inside and outside the airport, hoping they can leave.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul advised American citizens to avoid travel to the airport and said those already at its gates must leave immediately, due to <x0 security threats”.

The British Foreign Office issued a similar advice, telling people near the airport that “will leave to a secure”. She said there is a “continuing and high threat to terrorist attack”.

Australia also called on its citizens and those with visas for Australia to leave the area, saying there is a <x0 high threat to terrorist attack”.

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has set August 31st as a deadline for completing the evacuation of people and the withdrawal of American troops guarding the airport.

Biden has cited terrorist threats from the regional branch of the militant Islamic State group as the reason for maintaining that deadline.

The Islamic State branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in these countries in recent years.

While Western troops are working within the airport to evacuate citizens, Taliban fighters are guarding the outside perimeter.

Ahmedullah Rafiqzai, an Afghan official working at the Civil Aviation Directorate at Kabul Airport, told Reuters it would be easy for a suicide attacker to attack the corridors, but said he is sceptical that people would hear warnings.

“The determination to leave this place makes them not afraid of death. Everyone is risking their lives”, Rafiqzai said.

The White House said that Biden has been informed of the threat from the Islamic State, as well as emergency evacuation plans. Beden has ordered the removal of all troops from Afghanistan, under an agreement with the Taliban.

Since the Taliban have entered Kabul on 15 August, the United States and its allies have evacuated more than 88,000 people, including 19,000 in the last 24 hours.

The U.S. Army has said the planes are rising every 39 minutes from Kabul Airport.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference in Washington that there is no deadline in trying to help people who want to leave Afghanistan, both Americans and others alike, and that this will continue “as long as it takes”.

The Taliban have said foreign troops must be outside Afghanistan by the end of this month and have ruled out any deadline extensions.

They have called on Afghans to stay, while they have said that those who have permission to leave will be allowed to do so once commercial flights resume.

The Taliban have also ruled Afghanistan in 1996-2001, with a brutal interpretation of Islamic law.

The Taliban now promise a milder rule, but many fear severe restrictions they may impose, as well as punishment for working with foreign armies and Western missions.

Special concerns are placed on women who have been banned from schooling and employment during earlier Taliban rule. / REL