The State Department cautioned Americans hoping to board evacuation planes out of Kabul's international airport late Friday to leave the airport gates "immediately," in an eerie echo of a warning issued hours before Thursday's deadly suicide bombing.
Due to "security threats," the latest advisory from US Embassy officials, issued early Saturday morning, Afghanistan time, directed American people to "avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates."
It went on to say that Americans “who are currently at the Abbey gate, East gate, North gate, or New Ministry of Interior gate should leave immediately.”
The alert was nearly identical to one issued early Thursday, only hours before an ISIS-K terrorist detonated a bomb near the Abbey Gate, where US troops were screening would-be refugees attempting to board aircraft out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
“We are advising U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to Kabul airport and to avoid airport gates at this time due to security threats outside the gates,” the Thursday notice stated. “Any American citizens currently present at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate should leave immediately.”
At least 182 people were killed in the bomb, including 13 US service members, making Thursday the worst day in Afghanistan in a decade.
Officials in the United States have warned that further terrorist attacks are anticipated before the Biden administration's August 31 deadline for the withdrawal of all American troops from Afghanistan after a 20-year war. Despite the dangers, the administration has stated that it will continue to evacuate Americans and their Afghan partners until the last possible moment.
The military is monitoring serious, specific ISIS threats "in real-time," according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.
“We are certainly prepared and anticipate further attempts,” Kirby added. He refused to go into detail about any additional security measures in place around the airport gates and surrounds, including those established by the Taliban. On Friday, he claimed, there were fewer people at the gates and around them.
The Pentagon announced late Friday that a suspected ISIS-K member was killed by a drone attack.
