Germany, Britain and US warn of terrorist attack threat to Kabul Airport

The embassies of Germany, Britain and the United States in Kabul have asked their citizens to immediately leave the entrance of Kabul Airport due to the threat of terrorist attacks. The evacuation of Western citizens and their local colleagues is scheduled to be completed within five more days.

The security situation around Kabul Airport has deteriorated in the days before the deadline set by the Taliban for the withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

The German Embassy in Afghanistan warned of the threat of terrorist threats around Kabul Airport. The German Army also reported on Tuesday, August 24, that a number of suicide bombers from the terrorist ISIS group are present in Kabul.

The US Embassy on the evening of Wednesday, September 3 (August 25), without specifying details of the threats, advised its citizens not to go to the entrance gates of Kabul Airport due to security threats and to avoid being in these areas.

The United States has warned that American citizens currently at the east or north gates of the airport must “immediately” leave the area.

The British government has also asked its citizens present near the airport to go to a safe location and await further instructions.

Joe Biden, the President of the United States, said that the local branch of ISIS tries to attack Kabul Airport almost every day. Biden also emphasized that ISIS is also an enemy of the Taliban.

US: Taliban have promised withdrawal after August 31

Concurrently with these warnings, the time for the complete evacuation of Western forces from Kabul is also approaching. The United States has announced that since control of Kabul fell to the Taliban, it has successfully evacuated more than 82,000 people from Afghanistan.

The Taliban have given NATO and US forces until Tuesday, August 31, to leave Afghanistan. The Pentagon has announced that 10,000 people still remain in Afghanistan.

The United States said it will continue to evacuate its forces until the set deadline. But what will happen after August 31 and whether the evacuation mission will continue after this set deadline?

Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State, said, “There is no deadline for the evacuation of Americans and Afghan citizens in danger.”

According to the German government, the Taliban have promised that Afghans will be allowed to leave the country after August 31.

Markus Potzel, the German representative in Afghanistan, after speaking with Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, Deputy Head of the Taliban’s Political Office in Qatar, announced that the German government wants to continue the departure of German citizens and their local colleagues from the country with civilian flights from Kabul.

Taliban request for Turkish assistance

Turkey has also begun the withdrawal of its soldiers from Afghanistan. At the same time, the Reuters news agency reported on the Taliban’s request for Turkish technical assistance at Kabul Airport.

Reuters reported, citing two Turkish government officials, that the Taliban have requested technical assistance from Turkey to manage Kabul Airport after foreign military personnel leave on August 31. The Taliban simultaneously said that Turkish military personnel must also leave Afghanistan by the set deadline. Turkish officials said they now face a difficult mission.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey, in response to the latest developments in Afghanistan, said he assesses the messages of Taliban leaders with “cautious optimism” and “Taliban actions will be decisive in the next process in Afghanistan, not their words.”

Erdoğan also emphasized that Turkey is currently hosting more than five million refugees and can no longer tolerate “the additional burden of migration from Syria or Afghanistan.”

Source: DW