The US embassy in Kabul Sunday warned of a “specific” and “credible” threat for the area around the airport, urging US citizens to “immediately” leave the area.
This is coining in just hours after Joe Biden said that he was informed by US military commanders that another attack on the troops may come within the next 24-36 hours.
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 some 170 Afghans, 13 US servicemen and two British nationals.
Read Also: Kabul Airport Explosion: ISIS Claims Responsibility For Attack
Read Also: Biden Vows Revenge On ISIS After 85 Killed In Kabul Airport Attacks
Read Also: US Says It Killed “Planner” Behind Kabul Airport Attack In Targeted Drone Strike
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.
Earlier on Saturday, Biden said that despite intelligence suggesting an attack at the airport is “highly likely”, the US would continue to evacuate the remaining Americans and Afghan allies. It appears now that even that avenue has been cut off.
According to the AP, western leaders acknowledged their withdrawal would mean leaving behind some of their citizens and many locals who helped them over the years, and they vowed to try to continue working with the Taliban to allow local allies to leave after President Joe Biden’s Tuesday’s deadline to withdraw from the country.
Although most of its allies had finished their evacuation flights, the U.S. planned to keep its round-the-clock flights going until the deadline, saying 113,500 people had been evacuated since Aug. 14, the day before the Taliban claimed Kabul. Britain ended its evacuation flights Saturday, though Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to “shift heaven and earth” to get more of those at risk from the Taliban to Britain by other means.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed Saturday that the group’s forces were holding some positions within the airport and were ready to peacefully take control of it as American forces flew out. But Pentagon spokesman John Kirby denied the claim.
The Taliban did deploy extra forces outside of the airport to prevent large crowds from gathering in the wake of Thursday’s bombing. New layers of checkpoints sprang up on roads leading to the airport, some manned by uniformed Taliban fighters with Humvees and night-vision goggles captured from Afghan security forces. Areas, where the crowds had gathered over the past two weeks in the hopes of fleeing the country, were largely empty.
On Saturday afternoon, just hours after the US reportedly droned some unnamed “ISIS-K planners and facilitators” who were said to be behind the Kabul airport bombing, Joe Biden warned that “the situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous, and the threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high,” and said that his military commanders informed him that “an attack is highly likely in the next 24-36 hours.
In a statement released by the White House, Biden said that he met with national security officials, and vowed the U.S. would carry out further strikes against the terrorists responsible for the bombing.
“I directed them to take every possible measure to prioritize force protection, and ensured that they have all the authorities, resources and plans to protect our men and women on the ground,” Biden added. “They assured me that they did, and that they could take these measures while completing the mission and safely retrograding our personnel.”
And just to make sure there is even more escalation – as more drone strikes will lead to more suicide bombings and even more deaths as the quintessential CIA narrative has made all too clear – Biden warned that the strike against ISIS-K will not be the last.
“This strike was not the last. We will continue to hunt down any person involved in that heinous attack and make them pay,” Biden said in a statement. “Whenever anyone seeks to harm the United States or attack our troops, we will respond. That will never be in doubt.”
Yet what is confusing is that according to Reuters reporting, victims of the US drone strike were women and children despite the Pentagon’s assurances that no civilians were hit:
In Jalalabad, community elder Malik Adib said three people were killed and four were wounded in the airstrike, adding that he had been summoned by the Taliban investigating the incident.
“Women and children are among the victims,” said Adib, though he did not have information about their identity. The U.S. military statement said: “We know of no civilian casualties.”
Finally, considering the “drone strike” was supposed to be “punishment” and retaliation against the previous bombing and meant to prevent future suicide bombings, one would be forgiven to ask just why did the US drone someone if all it would provoke is even more bloodshed? Unless, of course, that’s precisely what the CIA’s intention was from the very beginning.
Leave a Reply