The U.S. Embassy warned Americans to stay away from the Kabul airport and told anyone outside the perimeter to “leave immediately,” citing unnamed security threats.
The warning came as the last of the estimated 1,500 Americans still in Afghanistan try to make it to the airport to leave before the U.S. withdrawal on Aug. 31. Tens of thousands of Afghan nationals are camped outside the perimeter of the airport in desperate attempts to try to escape on the last flights out.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the embassy advisory, or whether it described a specific new threat or reflected ongoing concerns. But the warning did cite three areas of particular concern.
“U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately,” the statement said, without further detail.
The U.S. government has been warning about potential security threats at the airport, and access to the airport has been adjusted accordingly, with some gates temporarily closed.
