IS may attack UK, US soldiers at Kabul airport: Report

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Top UK military officials believe that the Islamic State (IS) can target British and US soldiers helping evacuations at the Kabul airport, Sputnik reported citing The Times’ sources on Monday.

“We know they would love to get a suicide bomb into the crowd and take out some Brits or Americans. There is a serious threat of an ISIS suicide bomber. The soldiers are having to keep their fingers on the trigger in one hand while holding a baby in the other. It’s very fragile,” The Times quoted a source as saying.

A Taliban member, in turn, told the newspaper that its members are instructed to ensure security at the airport and thwart possible attacks by Islamic State.

“There is a security risk and ISIS can attack anytime. Our men are checking every individual and vehicle. We don’t mean to create trouble for the Afghan people,” the commander said.

The British newspaper has learned that some 900 UK soldiers were sent to Afghanistan to help US troops airlift Afghans and other countries’ citizens from Kabul. London also decided to extend evacuation deadlines, with the last flight set to be conducted later this week, Sputnik reported quoting The Times’ sources.

This week, the UK is planning to evacuate nearly 6,000 people out of Afghanistan. So far, the UK has evacuated nearly 5,725 people from Kabul including 3,100 Afghan nationals, Sputnik reported.

On Saturday, in the wake of a possible security threat, the US Embassy in Kabul said in a statement, “Because of potential security threats outside the gates at the Kabul airport, we are advising US citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a US government representative to do so.”

Afghanistan’s situation is deteriorating as people are in a rush to leave the nation after the Taliban seized control last week. On August 15, the country’s government fell soon after President Ashraf Ghani left the nation.

Countries have been evacuating their citizens from the war-torn nation speedily. The Kabul airport is witnessing nowadays a heavy chaos due to instability in the region. (ANI)