Biden warns that a new attack in Kabul is "highly probable"

The US military leadership has informed President Joe Biden on Saturday that it is "highly probable" that another attack will take place in Kabul in the next 24 or 36 hours. The president met this morning with commanders on the ground and his national security team to assess the impact that Washington's military response had on Saturday. The drone strike killed two members of ISIS in Afghanistan, the group said to be responsible for detonating the bomb that killed nearly 200 Afghans and 13 US servicemen on Thursday. “I said that we were going to go after the group responsible for the attack on our troops and innocent civilians in Kabul, and we have. This attack is not the last. We will continue to hunt down all those involved in the atrocious attack, "said Biden through a statement.

More information

• William Burns, the CIA chief who stepped on the mud

• "The Taliban are taking people out of their homes, and then they disappear"

• Iran sees the Taliban as a trump card against the United States

The president has described the situation on the ground as "extremely dangerous" because the risk of a repeat attack like the one a few days ago at the Abbey checkpoint at Hamid Karzai airport is "high". At the closed-door meeting, the president instructed the military to take "every possible measure" to protect the military that remain in Afghanistan. In the last two weeks, following the chaotic withdrawal of troops ordered by Biden, US forces have evacuated 117,000 people between Americans and Afghans. "Yesterday [for Friday] we brought back 6,800 people, including hundreds of Americans," adds the White House text.

Senior Pentagon officials had already alerted the White House that a new attack is brewing. "Commanders have briefed the president and vice president on plans to develop ISIS-K targets," said Jen Psaki, the Biden spokeswoman. "We are prepared, in anticipation of future attacks," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby added at a press conference, where the chief of staff, General Hank Taylor, was also present. "We monitor these threats very closely, in real time, in real time," Kirby said.

The pressure on the president of the United States continues to mount. This Saturday the Pentagon has officially identified the 13 soldiers killed in the attack, whom Biden has called "heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of the highest American ideals." Among the casualties were two soldiers, Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23, of California, and Rosario Pichardo, a 25-year-old member of the Navy, who had recently been recognized for her work. On Thursday both Pichardo and Gee were tasked with screening women and children arriving at Kabul airport in hopes of leaving the country where the Taliban have regained control.

The rest of the victims, all Marines, were in their twenties from different states and backgrounds.

Among these were five young men in their 20s, who were not old enough to order a beer in a bar in the United States, but who were already on the battle lines of the oldest war in the country.

They were Californians Dylan Medina, from Rancho Cucamonga and Kareem Nikoui, from Norco;

David Espinoza, from Rio Bravo (Texas);

Jared Schmitz from San Carlos, Missouri and Rylee McCollum from Jackson, Wyoming.

The rest of the victims were Darin Hoover, 31;

Hunter Lopez, 22;

Daegan Page, 23;

Humberto Sánchez, 22;

Maxton Soviak, 22, and Ryan Knauss, 23.

Join EL PAÍS now to follow all the news and read without limits

Subscribe here

Follow all the international information on