The United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom have urged people to move away from the international airport in Kabul due to the threat of an attack by an ISIL offshoot in Afghanistan, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP).

The warnings on Thursday came as Western troops hurried to evacuate as many of their citizens and vulnerable Afghans as possible before a withdrawal deadline on August 31.

The US Embassy in Kabul issued an alert advising US citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and said those already at the gates should leave immediately. It cited unspecified “security threats”.

The British Foreign Office issued a similar advisory, telling people in the area of the airport to “move away to a safe location”, adding, “There is an ongoing and high threat of terrorist attack.”

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also urged Australians and Afghans with a visa for Australia to leave the area, warning of a “very high threat of a terrorist attack” at the airport.

Crowds of desperate people seeking to flee Taliban rule have tried to access the Kabul airport since the Taliban captured the Afghan capital on August 15. Since the Taliban seizure, the US and its allies have been flown more than 88,000 foreigners and Afghans out of the city’s airport in one of the biggest air evacuations in history.

Source:aljazeera.com