U.S. Marines take a moment to rest at an evacuation checkpoint during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 20, 2021.
US Marines Reuters
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden said Saturday in a statement that his national security team warned that an attack on Kabul airport is “very likely in the next 24-36 hours.”
“The situation on the ground remains extremely dangerous and the threat of terrorist attacks at the airport remains high,” Biden said, adding that he directed U.S. commanders to “take all possible steps to prioritize the protection of the force “.
Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, told reporters Thursday that ISIS is likely to try to continue the attacks before the evacuations end.
“We believe his desire is to continue these attacks and we hope that these attacks will continue,” the four-star general told the Pentagon press, adding that the U.S. was monitoring an “extremely active stream of threats against the United States.” aerodrome “.
McKenzie, who oversees U.S. military operations in the region, said threats against Western forces and civilians at the airport range from gunfire to rockets to suicide bombings.
“So very, very real threat flows, what we would call tactical meaning imminent, could occur at any time,” he said. McKenzie said he did not plan to request additional U.S. troops for the mission.
The latest threat assessment comes after a US drone strike that killed two high-profile ISIS-K members in Afghanistan.
“I said we would go to the group responsible for the attack on our innocent troops and civilians in Kabul, and we have it,” Biden said of the drone strike. “This strike was not the last,” he added. “We will continue to prosecute anyone involved in that heinous attack and make them pay,” the president said.
The US strike came less than two days after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device near the gates of Kabul airport, killing 13 members of the US service.
The Pentagon said Saturday that the strike was aimed at two ISIS-K members believed to be involved in planning attacks on U.S. forces in Kabul. Army Major General William Taylor said no civilian casualties were known after the strike.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. did not notify or coordinate with the Taliban before the strike. He added that the Department of Defense did not notify other countries in the region or U.S. lawmakers.
The Pentagon also confirmed that the U.S. military in Kabul has begun its retrograde process or withdrawal from the country. Kirby said there are less than 5,000 service members left in the country, adding that the United States will stop providing an exact number due to security conditions.
In the last 24 hours, Western forces evacuated 6,800 people from Kabul on 66 flights of military cargo planes. Since the mass evacuations began on August 14, approximately 111,900 people have been airlifted from Afghanistan.
Some 117,500 people have been evacuated since the end of July, including some 5,400 U.S. citizens and their families.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Friday that about 500 Americans are still seeking evacuation.