ISIS-K Threats Against Crowds At Kabul Airport Concerned

The evacuation in Kabul, captured by a satellite 0:45

(CNN) -

Security concerns around Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport have increased due to "a very specific stream of threats" from ISIS-K about planned attacks on crowds outside the airport, the official defense official told him. United States to CNN.

The United States believes that ISIS-K, which is a sworn enemy of the Taliban, wants to create chaos at the airport and has intelligence currents that suggest it is capable and plans to carry out multiple attacks, according to the official.

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The US embassy in Kabul advised US citizens at various airport gates to "leave immediately", pointing to "security threats outside the gates."

"Due to the security threats outside the Kabul airport gates, we are advising American citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid the airport gates at this time unless they receive individual instructions from a government representative of Kabul. US to do so, "the alert said.

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On Tuesday, when he confirmed his decision not to extend the evacuation deadline to Aug. 31, President Joe Biden acknowledged the growing threat the group poses to the airport.

"Every day that we are on the ground is another day that we know ISIS-K is looking to target the airport and attack both US and allied forces and innocent civilians," Biden said.

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Concerns escalated after more than 100 prisoners loyal to the ISIS affiliated group in Afghanistan escaped from two prisons near Kabul as the Taliban advanced on the Afghan capital, CNN learned.

A regional counter-terrorism source told CNN that several hundred ISIS-K members may have escaped from Bagram and Pul-e-Charkhi prisons, both east of Kabul.

Both prisons fell into the hands of the Taliban shortly before they entered Kabul.

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A Taliban spokesman declined to address the reports of the leaks when asked by CNN on Wednesday, saying they were unconfirmed.

Regarding the risk of terrorist attacks in and around the airport, the Taliban spokesman said on Tuesday: "There have been reports that some evildoers want to alter the security situation by attacking and harming people and the media. So no. go near the airport to avoid getting hurt. "

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According to former Afghan government officials, there were approximately 5,000 inmates at the Bagram facility when the United States abandoned it in July.

The prisoners included members of the Taliban, al Qaeda and ISIS, as well as common criminals.

ISIS-Khorasan is an offshoot of the terror group that first emerged in Syria and Iraq.

While the affiliates share an ideology and tactics, the depth of their relationship with respect to organization and command and control has never been fully established.

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US intelligence officials previously told CNN that ISIS-K's membership includes "a small number of veteran Syrian jihadists and other foreign terrorist fighters," and said the United States had identified between 10 and 15 of its top operatives in Afghanistan.

The group's name comes from its terminology for the area that includes Afghanistan and Pakistan: "Khorasan."

The US Department of Defense inspector general for Afghanistan said in a report, which covered the months of April to June this year, that "ISIS-Khorasan took advantage of political instability and increased violence during the quarter by attacking targets and sectarian minority infrastructure to spread fear and highlight the Afghan government's inability to provide adequate security. "

ISIS-K has formed cells in Kabul that have carried out a series of devastating suicide attacks in and outside the Afghan capital since 2016.

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In May this year, ISIS-K attacked a girls' school in Kabul and killed at least 68 people, injuring more than 165, most of them girls, according to an assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency cited by the inspector. general.

And in June, at least 10 people were killed and 16 others injured in an attack on the British-American charity HALO Trust.

ISIS-Khorasan claimed responsibility for the attack on the camp in the northeastern province of Baghlan.

The group has built a presence in eastern Afghanistan in recent years, especially in Nangahar and Kunar provinces.

Last August, the group attacked the main prison in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangahar, in an effort to free dozens of its supporters who had been captured by the Afghan Army and Police.

Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.

Afghanistan ISIS Kabul Taliban