Taliban Surround Kabul Airport as US, Allies Warn of Threat of Terrorist Attack

Taliban fighters are guarding the perimeter of Kabul’s international airport, preventing many Afghan citizens from fleeing the country. Thousands of people remain on the streets near the airport, trying to enter its gates in an attempt to leave Afghanistan. Meanwhile, also on Thursday, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom are calling on people to move further away from the airport in light of threats of an attack by the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, a Taliban rival. The US Embassy in Kabul, for example, issued an alert citing unspecified “security threats” and advising US citizens to avoid traveling to the airport. The alert called on those waiting outside of its gates to leave immediately. The UK and Australia cited the “threat of a terrorist attack.” The warning has led several European countries to halt their airlifts out of the country.  The US and its allies have evacuated more than 88,000 people so far, ahead of an August 31 deadline that the Taliban say is inviolable. Some 1,500 Americans and an unknown number of other foreigners still remain in Afghanistan and it is unclear whether they will get out ahead of the deadline.