Threat of further attacks increasing in Kabul - UK defence minister

LONDON - The threat of further attacks around Kabul Airport will increase as Western troops get closer to leaving the country, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Friday.

He said the blasts on Thursday, which killed 85 people including 13 U.S. soldiers, had not accelerated Britain's departure from the country. A closure of a processing centre at Baron Hotel near the airport had happened on schedule, he said.

"The threat is obviously going to grow the closer we get to leaving," he told Sky News. "The narrative is always going to be, as we leave, certain groups such as ISIS will want to stake a claim that they have driven out the U.S. or the UK."