Terror attack warning at Afghanistan airport

KABUL, Aug. 26  —  Do not travel to Kabul airport. That’s the latest advice issued by some countries racing to evacuate their nationals and eligible Afghans. Crowds have been gathering day after day since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan more than a week ago. But now people outside the airport are being told to leave the area immediately due to a high threat of a terrorist attack. Australia, the US, and the UK are advising their citizens not to travel to the site. This warning comes after US President Joe Biden revealed there was an “acute and growing risk of an attack” from the Islamic State group in Afghanistan and said flights had to end soon because of this.

Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marise Payne, describes the threat as “ongoing” and “very high”, the US State Department says it’s told those waiting in certain areas to “leave immediately”, and according to the UK Foreign Office the security situation “remains volatile” and asked people to wait for further advice. The US has evacuated about 19,000 people in the past 24 hours and on Wednesday some 1,200 were flown out by the UK, which vowed to use “every hour and day that we’ve got left” to get British nationals and eligible Afghans out of the country. But there are thousands of people still waiting inside and outside the airport, hoping to be airlifted out, like the 82,000 or so before them. The details of the security threat have not been revealed but the airport will, until the 31 August deadline, be defended by 5,800 US and 1,000 British troops.

– By NDN Reporter