US, UK, Australia warn citizens and Afghans of ‘high terror threat’ at Kabul airport

The US, UK and Australia have warned their citizens and Afghans against going to the Kabul airport, citing a ‘high threat’ of a ‘terrorist’ attack.

The warnings came late on Wednesday, August 25 and on Thursday, August 26 even as Western troops hurry to evacuate as many foreign nationals and Afghans as possible before a withdrawal deadline on August 31.

“Those at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately,” the US State Department said in an alert, citing “security threats”.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs said there is an “ongoing and very high threat of terrorist attack” and told people not to travel to the airport.

The British foreign office announced: “If you can leave Afghanistan safely by other means, you should do so immediately”.

“There is an ongoing and high threat of terrorist attack”, the statement added.

More than 80,000 people, foreigners and Afghans, have been evacuated since August 14,

The US says there are more than 10,000 people at the Kabul airport waiting to be evacuated from Afghanistan with almost 2000 Americans still in the country .

The Pentagon claims it has evacuated 19,000 people in the past 24 hours.  The Taliban has warned foreign troops to leave the country by August 31 or ‘face consequences’