Following US President Joe Biden's statement that another attack on the Kabul airport is probable within the next 24 to 36 hours, the US Embassy in Kabul issued a specific and serious warning, urging US nationals to evacuate the area.

The security advisory advised Americans to avoid the airport and to leave immediately if they were in the area, which included the South (Airport Circle) gate, the new Ministry of the Interior, and the gate near the Panjshir Petrol station on the airport's northwest side.

In a statement released Saturday, Biden warned of more likely attacks as the United States and its allies wind down an evacuation of their citizens and Afghans fleeing the Taliban, and just two days after a suicide bombing on the outskirts of Kabul's airport killed at least 170 Afghans and 13 US service members.

As the enormous airlift ends and US soldiers withdraw, Biden said he asked US commanders to safeguard American personnel on the ground at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

According to the White House, about 2,000 individuals were evacuated from Kabul in a 12-hour period ending at 3 p.m. EDT Saturday. Around 1,400 people were evacuated on US military flights and 600 individuals were evacuated on seven coalition flights.

The White House also stated that the United States had evacuated or assisted in the evacuation of about 113,500 persons since August 14. The United States has evacuated around 119,000 people since the end of July.

Separately, two important members of an Islamic State Afghan branch organization were killed in a US bombing on Friday night in retaliation for Thursday's attack, according to the US Defense Department. The Islamic State of Khorasan, or ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for the attack at the airport.

“Two high-profile ISIS targets were killed, one was wounded, and we know of zero civilian casualties,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said during a press conference, referring to the group by another name.

“This was not the last strike,” Biden stressed. “We will continue to pursue anyone who was involved in that heinous attack and hold them accountable.”

Kirby refused to clarify how much ISIS capability was harmed as a result of the US attack, instead of adding, "They lost a planner, they lost a facilitator, and they've got one wounded." It's also a wonderful thing that two of these people are no longer wandering around on the face of the Earth.”

According to Reuters, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid blasted the US airstrike, calling it a "clear attack on Afghan territory." He also reportedly stated that after U.S. forces leave the country on Tuesday, the Taliban expects to have complete control of the airport.

Persistent threats

Threats to the airport "remain very real, very dynamic, and we're monitoring them literally in real-time," Pentagon spokesman Kirby said at a Saturday briefing. And, as I indicated yesterday, we're using all available resources to ensure that we stay focused on the threat stream and do everything we can to defend our forces.”

The departure of Americans and some Afghans has been made more difficult due to security concerns.

From the airport, a State Department source told VOA, “There doesn't appear to be any concerted effort to get SIVs [Special Immigrant Visa holders] out at this point.” However, local embassy workers, US nationals, and lawful permanent residents are still being evacuated by the government.

According to a State Department official who spoke with VOA Saturday on the condition of anonymity, the U.S. evacuation of Afghans at the airport has slowed dramatically, with the majority of the remaining 100 American civilian government personnel slated to leave before midnight.

According to the official, the airport terminals are generally empty, and he has mixed thoughts about the operation.

“I share the frustration of the operation's overall failure,” the official said, describing the decision-making process for evacuating Afghans as “chaotic” and “subjective.”

“But I'm extremely proud of the guys on the ground's work, just the kind of bare-knuckled diplomacy of getting to know the Afghans, even though some of us didn't speak the language,” the official said.

Meanwhile, Britain announced on Saturday that it will cease civilian evacuation planes and begin returning its troops and diplomats to the country. Since the Taliban took control of the country two weeks ago, Britain announced late Friday that it had evacuated more than 14,500 Afghan and British nationals.

The evacuations came to an end a day after Defense Secretary Ben Wallace stated that Britain had ceased processing persons for evacuation from Kabul, citing the fact that many British citizens and Afghans who had cooperated with Britain in Afghanistan would be unable to escape.

France has earlier indicated that its evacuation operation in Afghanistan was coming to an end.

Aid is being sought.

As the evacuation draws to a close, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) called for humanitarian aid on Saturday to assist more than 7 million Afghan farmers who are suffering from worsening drought.

In a statement, FAO Director Qu Dongyu stated, "Urgent agricultural support now is critical to counter the impact of the drought and a worsening situation in Afghanistan's vast rural areas in the weeks and months ahead."

The drought, according to the FAO, is "severe," and its impact on Afghans is aggravated by the conflict's displacement of people and the economic impact of COVID-19.