The White House warned that another terror attack is "likely" as evacuations continue. Several European nations have terminated evacuations due to the security situation.
ADVERTISEMENTUS national security officials warned that another terror attack in Kabul is "likely", following Thursday's suicide bombing at Kabul airport.
Military forces on the ground are thus "taking maximum force protection measures at the Kabul Airport" as the US continues evacuations before an August 31 deadline.
Most Western airlifts have either ended or are winding down due to the security situation in the country. Thousands of Afghans are still gathered outside the airport gates trying to flee the Taliban.
At least 13 US soldiers were killed in the attack, as were more than 100 Afghan civilians. Many more were injured. The atrocities have been condemned around the world, from organisations as diverse as NATO and the Taliban.
Two British citizens were also killed in the attack, the foreign office said, and a child of a British citizen was killed.
Key developments:
- US national security advisers warned another terror attack in Afghanistan is "likely", the White House said, as the US ramps up evacuations ahead of an August 31 deadline to withdraw forces.
- Reports on Friday raised the overall death toll from Thursday's attack to at least 169. At least 13 US personnel died and two British citizens died.
- President Biden vowed that US forces would avenge the attack by hunting down those responsible. The self-proclaimed Islamic State group (IS) has said it carried them out.
- The US president also said the American evacuation mission will continue through to next Tuesday's deadline for withdrawal.
- Britain says its operation is in its final stages, while France now says its evacuations may continue beyond Friday night having previously said they would end by then. Most European countries' airlifts have ended.
Updates on Friday:
“We will rescue the Americans; we will get our Afghan allies out, and our mission will go on,” President Biden said. But despite intense pressure to extend Tuesday’s deadline, he has cited the threat of terrorist attacks as a reason to keep to his plan.
The Taliban, back in control of Afghanistan two decades after they were ousted in a U.S.-led invasion following the 9/11 attacks, insist on the August 31 cutoff date.
The Trump administration in February 2020 struck an agreement with the Taliban that called for it to halt attacks on Americans in exchange for the removal of all U.S. troops and contractors by May; Biden announced in April he would have them out by September.
While the U.S. on Thursday said more than 100,000 people have been safely evacuated from Kabul, as many as 1,000 Americans and tens of thousands more Afghans are struggling to leave in one of history’s largest airlifts.