Kabul security alert: US embassy warns of ‘specific, credible threat’ near airport | World | News


The embassy has urged all US citizens to leave the area immediately. In a statement, the embassy said: “Due to a specific, credible threat, all US 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 has given a list of advice for those in the area, warning people to “be aware of your surroundings at all times, especially in large crowds” and to “follow the instructions of local authorities including movement restrictions related to curfews.”

Lara Seligman, a Pentagon reporter for Politico was told by Defence officials the alert was triggered by “a suicide vest threat.”

The alert comes as Joe Biden warned another terrorist attack in the Afghan capital was “highly likely in the next 24 to 36 hours.”

In a statement on Saturday, the 78-year-old president said the situation in Kabul “continues to be extremely dangerous, and the threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high”.

Mr Biden has previously promised to “hunt down” those responsible for the ISIS-claimed terror attack on Thursday and delivered an airstrike which killed two Islamic State “planners and facilitators”.

“We discussed the strike that US forces took [on Friday] night against the terrorist group Isis-K in Afghanistan,” Mr Biden said.

“I said we would go after the group responsible for the attack on our troops and innocent civilians in Kabul, and we have.

“This strike was not the last. We will continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay.

READ MORE: Biden promises further airstrikes on ISIS fanatics

John Kirby, a spokesman for the Pentagon, told reporters the latest US airstrike against ISIS-K would not be enough to stop the jihadist militants.

“They have lost some capability to plan and to conduct missions,” he said, “but make no mistake, nobody’s writing this off and saying, ‘Well, we got them. We don’t have to worry about ISIS-K any more.’ Not the case.”



Source link