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Joe Biden says another militant attack ‘highly likely’ as US troops begin withdrawal from Kabul
- Biden said military commanders had told him an attack was highly likely in the next 24 to 36 hours and the situation remains ‘extremely dangerous’
- The United States said it had killed two Islamic State militants planning attacks in Afghanistan after a deadly suicide bombing outside the airport on Thursday
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The United States warned late on Saturday of a “credible threat” near Kabul airport and urged its citizens to leave the area, days after a deadly attack on crowds fleeing Taliban rule in Afghanistan. “Due to a specific, credible threat, all US citizens in the vicinity of Kabul airport … should leave the airport area immediately,” the US embassy in Kabul said in a security alert.
This came after the US took aim at Islamic State in Afghanistan earlier on Saturday, killing two high-level targets in a drone strike over the devastating suicide bombing at Kabul airport, and as President Joe Biden warned another attack on the frantic airlift was “highly likely”.
Scores of Afghan civilians were killed in the bombing claimed by the regional Islamic State-Khorasan group, along with 13 US troops – several of them just 20 years old, the same length of time as US military operations in Afghanistan.
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Biden said on Saturday his military commanders believed a fresh attack could come “in the next 24-36 hours”, calling the situation “extremely dangerous”.
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“I directed them to take every possible measure to prioritise force protection,” he said after a briefing from his national security team.
Earlier, the Pentagon said it had killed two “high profile” targets – logistics experts for the jihadist group – and wounded another in the drone strike in eastern Afghanistan.
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