Embassy urges Americans to leave Kabul airport due to threat

KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. Embassy successful Kabul again urged Americans to “immediately” permission the Afghanistan city’s airdrome Saturday, this clip owed to a “specific, credible threat.”

In a security alert, the embassy said each U.S. citizens successful the vicinity of the Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) should leave, including those successful the South (Airport Circle) gate, the caller Ministry of the Interior, and the gross adjacent the Panjshir Petrol presumption connected the northwest side.

The alert besides said U.S. citizens should debar traveling to the airdrome and enactment distant from each airdrome gates arsenic the menace is assessed.

The embassy warned Americans to beryllium alert of their surroundings, particularly successful ample crowds. They were besides told to travel the instructions of section authorities, to person a contingency program for emergencies, to show section media for breaking news, and to enroll successful the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to person alerts and to marque it easier to find them successful emergencies.

The alert comes hours aft President Joe Biden announced successful a connection that U.S. commanders informed him that different onslaught successful Kabul is highly apt successful the adjacent 24 to 36 hours. He said the concern connected the crushed continues to beryllium highly unsafe and the menace of violent attacks connected the airdrome remains high.

Biden said helium has directed commanders to instrumentality each imaginable measurement to prioritize unit protection.

The caller menace besides comes 2 days aft officials accidental an ISIS termination bomber acceptable disconnected a blast extracurricular the airdrome that killed 13 U.S. work members, arsenic good arsenic much than 160 Afghans. Numerous others were injured successful the explosion.

The U.S. is continuing its sprint to evacuate Americans, Afghan allies, and their families from Afghanistan up of the Aug. 31 deadline pursuing the Taliban takeover implicit the state earlier this month.

A White House authoritative told reporters Saturday evening that a full of 2,000 radical were evacuated from Kabul from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET connected Saturday. A full of 11 U.S. subject flights carried retired 1,400 evacuees and 7 conjugation flights carried 600, the authoritative said.