Kabul airport bombings: US braces for further attacks
Friday, 27 August 2021 (17:28 IST)
US forces at Kabul airport are preparing for more attacks by Islamic State militants, including possibly with car bombs or rockets, General Kenneth McKenzie told the Washington Post newspaper.
"We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks, and we expect those attacks to continue," McKenzie said the day after the extremist group killed at least 95 people.
What is the state of evacuations?
Several countries have already ended their rescue operations, including Germany, Canada and Belgium. The German Bundeswehr managed to evacuate 5,347, including more than 4,000 Afghans, during its operation.
Spain and Australia announced the end of their rescue flights on Friday while the UK said that it would likely wrap up at some point during the day.
US forces continued boarding people onto flights on Friday after 13 US soldiers were killed in Thursday's attacks. The Pentagon has said it will continue its operations until August 31, but will focus on evacuating US troops and military equipment during the last few days.
Around 1,500 US citizens were still in Afghanistan by Friday, Reuters reported.
So far, around 100,100 people have been flown out of Kabul airport since August 14, the day before the Taliban took the city, by the US and coalition partners.
