Edge's News: Afghans told to leave Kabul airport over ‘very credible’ Islamic State threat

The United States and allies urged people to move away from Kabul airport on Thursday due to the threat of a terror 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 thousands of foreigners and Afghans who helped Western countries during the 20-year war against the Taliban has intensified, with all U.S. and allied troops due to leave the airport next week.

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 in the airport area to move away and its armed forces minister, James Heappey, said intelligence of 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.

Australia also urged its citizens and visa holders to leave the area, warning of a “very high threat” of an attack.

A Western diplomat in Kabul said areas outside the airport gates continued to be “incredibly crowded” despite the warnings.

The Taliban, whose fighters are guarding the perimeter outside the airport, are enemies of the Afghan affiliate of Islamic State, known as Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), after an old name for the region.

“Our guards are also risking their lives at Kabul airport, they face a threat too from the Islamic State group,” said a Taliban official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A NATO country diplomat said that although the Taliban were responsible for security outside the airport, threats from Islamic State could not be ignored. “Western forces, under no circumstances, want to be in a position to launch an offensive or a defensive attack against anyone,” the diplomat added.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at least 4,500 American citizens and their families had been evacuated from Afghanistan since mid-August.

The U.S. military said it would shift its focus to evacuating its troops in the final two days before the Aug. 31 deadline.

The Taliban have said foreign troops must be out by the end of the month. They have encouraged Afghans to stay, while saying those with permission to leave will still be allowed to do so once commercial flights resume after the foreign troops go.

The Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule was marked by public executions and the curtailment of basic freedoms. Women were barred from school or work.

The Taliban have said they will respect human rights and not allow terrorists to operate from the country. But, with the twentieth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks looming, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told NBC News there was “no proof” that al Qaeda’s late leader Osama bin Laden was responsible.

U.S.-backed forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001 after their leadership refused to cave in to U.S. demands to make bin Laden leave Afghanistan. “There is no evidence even after 20 years of war … There was no justification for this war,” Mujahid said.

Source: Associated Press