US forces helping evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule were on alert for more attacks on Friday after an Islamic State suicide bombing outside Kabul airport killed at least 92 people, including 13 US service members.
The White House said the next few days of an ongoing US evacuation operation that the Pentagon said has taken about 111 000 people out of Afghanistan in the past two weeks are likely to be the most dangerous.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the United States believes there are still “specific, credible” threats against the airport after the bombing at one of its gates.
“We certainly are prepared and would expect future attempts,” Kirby told reporters in Washington. “We’re monitoring these threats, very, very specifically, virtually in real time.”
US and allied forces are racing to complete evacuations of their citizens and vulnerable Afghans and to withdraw from Afghanistan by an August 31 deadline set by President Joe Biden after two decades of American military presence there.
About 4 200 people were evacuated from Kabul during a 12-hour period on Friday, the White House said.
Earlier in the day US officials said a total of approximately 5 100 Americans had been evacuated, with about 500 more waiting to leave.
While thousands have been evacuated, they are far outnumbered by those who could not get out.
Some US media including the New York Times cited local health officials as saying up to 170 people, not including the US troops, were killed in Thursday’s attack.
Throngs of people have gathered outside the airport to try to get onto evacuation flights since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15.
The attack was the deadliest incident for US troops in Afghanistan in a decade.
Taliban forces have taken up positions in Kabul airport and are ready to take full control as early as this weekend, as soon as US forces leave, two senior Taliban figures said.
One senior commander said Taliban forces had taken over most of the airport, “just not a small part where the Americans still are”.
“As soon as the Americans leave, they just have to give us the signal and we will then take over,” a second Taliban official said.
Kirby disputed the Taliban account, telling reporters that the military section of the airport remains under US control.
“They are not in charge of any of the gates. They are not in charge of any of the airport operations. That is still under US military control,” Kirby said.
