Biden warned another attack likely in Kabul
Thomas McDonald
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President Joe Biden was issued a warning by his national security chief that another attack in Kabul is “likely” following the deadly bombings yesterday that killed 13 U.S. service members.
“The next few days of this mission will be the most dangerous period to date,” Biden’s national security team told him, according to a White House statement.
Military generals also updated the President and Vice President on their plans to target ISIS-K, the terror group that claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks yesterday.
Since Kabul fell to the Taliban on Aug. 14, the U.S. and coalition partners have evacuated nearly 100,000 people, including thousands of American citizens. It is estimated that around 1,500 Americans remain in the war-torn country as Biden’s Aug. 31 deadline approaches.
General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, said that ISIS-K is likely to continue attacks on the Kabul airport as the evacuations continue.
“We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks, and we expect those attacks to continue,” McKenzie said, adding that the U.S. was monitoring an “extremely active threat stream against the airfield.”
“So very, very real threat streams, what we would call tactical that means imminent, could occur at any moment,” he added.
At Friday’s press conference, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the national security team told Biden and Harris that “another terror attack in Kabul is likely and they are taking maximum force protection measures at the Kabul airport and surrounding areas with our forces as a result.”
Psaki went on to describe the threat as “ongoing and active,” according to the Department of Defense, which briefed the White House this morning.
“Our troops are still in danger,” Psaki added. “That continues to be the case every day that they are there. This is the most dangerous part of the mission,” she continued.
“This is the retrograde period of the mission…This is the period of the time when the military commanders on the ground and forces begin to move not just troops home but also equipment home, and that is often a very dangerous part of any mission. But in this case, they’re also doing this while there is an ongoing and acute threat from ISIS-K,” she added.