Afghanistan: Warnings of terrorist threat at the airport - time for evacuations is running out

The evacuation mission in Afghanistan will end shortly.

At the same time, the threat of terrorism at Kabul Airport is growing.

The pressure is immense.

• The Bundeswehr will fly its last soldiers out of Afghanistan * this Friday.

• Thousands of people are still waiting for an evacuation at Kabul Airport.

  Local staff * continue to hope to leave the country.

• Meanwhile, the risk of terrorist attacks increases there.

• This news ticker is continuously updated.

Kabul - Now it is clear: The Bundeswehr mission in Afghanistan ends this week. The last German soldiers are to be flown out of Kabul on Friday. The final withdrawal of US troops is due on Tuesday (August 31). Thousands of people at Kabul Airport continue to hope for an evacuation. Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) spoke on Wednesday of the “most dangerous phase of the evacuation mission”. The time for evacuations is running out. At the same time, the risk of terrorist attacks at the airport is increasing.

Because shortly before the presumed end of the militarily secured evacuations, the security situation there worsens dramatically.

The German embassy in Afghanistan and other agencies are warning of the threat of terrorism around the capital's airport.

"Due to the security threats at the gates of Kabul airport, we advise US citizens not to travel to the airport at the moment and to avoid the airport gates," said the US embassy on Thursday night - without specifying the threat situation .

The British embassy also urged its citizens in Afghanistan to go to a safe place and await further instructions.

Afghanistan: Warnings of terrorist threat at the airport - time for evacuations is running out

In a letter, the German embassy warned its citizens of shootings and terrorist attacks.

The Bundeswehr reported on Tuesday that there were an increasing number of potential suicide bombers from the terrorist organization Islamic State in Kabul.

US President Joe Biden had made a similar statement.

A local branch of IS tries to attack the airport practically every day, he said.

The terrorist militia is also a "declared enemy" of the militant Islamist Taliban.

Turkey has also started to withdraw its soldiers.

This should also mean that the option, which was discussed at times, that Turkish troops should secure the international airport in Kabul beyond the end of the NATO mission.

It is unclear whether people will be able to leave the airport via the airport after August 31.

The US government stressed that there was no “deadline” for its efforts to help US Americans or Afghans wishing to leave the country.

Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said that the Taliban had undertaken to ensure that people were safely escorted beyond August 31.

"And we certainly have incentives and leverage over a future Afghan government to ensure that this happens," Blinken said without going into detail.

Bundeswehr withdrawal from Afghanistan - UN report: security situation largely calm

A UN report now states: The security situation in Afghanistan * has been largely calm since the militant Islamist Taliban came to power.

This emerges from a weekly report by the UN Agency for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA), which was published on Wednesday evening.

In the vast majority of regions of the country, the security situation in the reporting period - the week after the Taliban came to power - was comparatively calm.

(aka / dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Also read:

The son of a well-known Taliban opponent * wants to form resistance in Afghanistan.

He gathers fighters around him in the Pandjir Valley.

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