European nations issue stark warnings as Kabul evacuation deadline looms
26 August 2021, 09:14
Thousands have been trying to flee the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, many through Kabul’s international airport.
European nations have offered stark warnings about the waning days of a massive airlift to bring people out of Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the country.
France said it would halt its evacuations on Friday while Denmark said its last flight had already left Kabul’s airport, which has seen thousands throng around it in the days since the Taliban took the capital.
Overnight, new warnings emerged from Western capitals about a possible threat from the affiliate of the so-called Islamic State in Afghanistan, Isis-K, which is likely to have seen its ranks boosted by the Taliban freeing prisoners across the country.
Already, military cargo planes leaving Kabul airport have launched flares to disrupt any potential surface-to-air missile fire as fleeing Afghan troops abandoned heavy weapons and equipment across the country in their collapse following America’s withdrawal of troops.
British armed forces minister James Heappey told the BBC on Thursday there was ”very, very credible reporting of an imminent attack” at the airport.
Mr Heappey conceded that people are desperate to leave and “there is an appetite by many in the queue to take their chances, but the reporting of this threat is very credible indeed and there is a real imminence to it”.
“We will do our best to protect those who are there,” he said.
“There is every chance that as further reporting comes in, we may be able to change the advice again and process people anew but there’s no guarantee of that.”
Outside of a missile attack, troops have been worried about the uncontrolled, teeming crowds outside the airport.
While the Taliban and others have tried to control them, there is no formal screening process on the way to the airport as there was under Afghanistan’s former government.
That means someone carrying a suicide bomb could slip through – or an explosives-laden vehicle could barrel through.
On Wednesday, the US embassy in Kabul issued a security alert warning American citizens away from three specific airport gates, but gave no further explanation.
Senior US officials said the warning was related to ongoing and specific threats involving IS and potential vehicle bombs.
Isis-K grew out of disaffected Taliban members who hold an even more extreme view of Islam, riding on a wave when the militants seized territory across Iraq and Syria.
Naming themselves after Khorasan, a historic name for the greater region, the extremists embarked on a series of brutal attacks that included a 2020 assault on a maternity hospital in Kabul that saw infants and women killed.
The Taliban has fought against IS militants in Afghanistan.
However, their advance across the country is likely to have seen IS fighters freed alongside the Taliban’s own.
Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Jean Castex told French radio RTL on Thursday that “from tomorrow evening onwards, we are not able to evacuate people from the Kabul airport” due to the August 31 American withdrawal.
Danish defence minister Trine Bramsen bluntly warned: “It is no longer safe to fly in or out of Kabul.”
Denmark’s last flight, carrying 90 people plus soldiers and diplomats, has left Kabul.
Poland and Belgium have already ended their evacuations from Afghanistan.
The Taliban wrested back control of Afghanistan nearly 20 years after it was ousted in a US-led invasion following the September 11 attacks, which al Qaida orchestrated while being sheltered by the group.
Its return to power has pushed many Afghans to flee, fearing reprisals and a possible return to its brutal rule.
