At least 13 US service members killed in Kabul airport attack

President Joe Biden speaks from the East Room of the White House on August 26 in Washington, DC.

President Biden addressed the families of service members and Afghans who were killed during a terrorist attack at Kabul’s airport.

“Jill and I, our hearts ache like I’m sure all of you do as well, for all those Afghan families who lost loved ones including small children, or have been wounded with this vicious attack and we’re outraged as well as heartbroken,” Biden said from his remarks at the White House.

Biden said he could relate to the families loss, referring to his experience with losing his son Beau Biden, a military veteran who died of brain cancer after returning from serving in Iraq.

He continued, “We have some sense like many of you do, what the families of these brave heroes are feeling today. You get this feeling like you’re being sucked into a black hole in the middle of your chest. There’s no way out. My heart aches for you. And I know this, we have a continuing obligation, a sacred obligation to all of you families of those heroes. That obligation is not temporary. It lasts forever.”

President Joe Biden pauses for a moment of silence from the East Room of the White House on August 26 in Washington, DC.

During remarks on the attack in Afghanistan, President Biden held a moment of silence “for all those in uniform and out of uniform, military and civilian, of giving the last full measure of devotion.”

President Biden issued a warning to those responsible for the Kabul airport attack in Afghanistan today that killed 12 US service members, saying, “We will hunt you down and make you pay.”

At least 15 additional US service members were injured, and an official with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health said that more than 60 Afghans were dead and 140 wounded in the attack.

US officials believe the group ISIS-K was likely behind today’s attack but are still working to confirm its involvement, according to a senior US official and another source briefed on initial assessments. 

President Biden acknowledged the attack at Kabul airport and specifically recognized the 12 US service members killed, calling Thursday “a tough day.”

Some context: The attack claimed more than 60 lives while at least 140 other people were injured, according to an Afghan public health official. Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, confirmed US service members were killed and injured in the attack, saying, “it’s a hard day today.”

McKenzie said the attack included two suicide bombers followed by gunmen opening fire. There were at least two explosions near a gate at the Kabul airport today. They came as the US and other countries race to evacuate people ahead of Biden’s Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.

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01:02 - Source: CNN

President Joe Biden speaks at the White House in Washington, DC, on August 26.

President Biden is speaking from the White House following two bombing attacks outside the Kabul airport that killed 12 US service members and dozens of Afghans.

This is the first time the public has heard from the President since the attacks, and his remarks come after the US’ top general in the Middle East spoke to reporters about the situation in the country at a Pentagon briefing.

Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, said they are working to determine who is behind the deadly attack and “are prepared to take action against them.” The general said they are also focused on other “extremely active threat streams” to the airfield.

US officials had been warned over the past week that a threat of a terror attack at the airport was becoming more acute. A US defense official had also told CNN that officials were concerned by a “very specific threat stream” involving the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan.

The attacks near the airport come as the US and other Western countries race to complete a massive evacuation following the Taliban takeover of the country. McKenzie said that the evacuations will continue despite the attack.

“Our mission is to evacuate US citizens, third country nationals, Special Immigrant Visa holders, US embassy staff, and Afghans at risk. Despite this attack, we are continuing the mission, the evacuation at best speed,” he said.

Coalition forces have conducted a series of scheduled and controlled explosions within Hamid Karzai International airport, US CENTCOM spokesperson Maj. John Rigsbee told CNN.

Earlier this week Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said as “if there needs to be destruction or other disposition of equipment there at Hamid Karzai International Airport, then we’ll do that and we’ll do that appropriately” if the US and coalition cannot take some equipment.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, meanwhile, tweeted after reports of additional blasts near Kabul after Thursday’s attack, “Today late in the evening, sound of explosions were heard inside the Kabul Airport. The explosions were carried out by the American forces to destroy their equipment. Kabul residents should not be worried.”

The sight of violence and people desperate to escape Kabul struck a chord with Ahmad Shah Mohibi, a former counterterrorism adviser in Afghanistan whose family worked with the US government during its presence in the country over the past 20 years.

Mohibi, whose parents were evacuated from Afghanistan on Monday, spoke with CNN about his experience working with the US following an attack at Kabul’s airport that killed more than 60 people.

Some context: US Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, said Thursday that although the “threat from ISIS is extremely real,” troops are still assisting with bringing people onto the airfield at Kabul’s airport.

McKenzie also said that officials expect attacks to continue, and “we’re doing everything we can to prevent those attacks.” 

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at Trinity College in Dublin on August 26.

France will see its mission to evacuate people from Afghanistan “through to the end” despite Thursday’s deadly attack at Kabul’s airport, the Élysée Palace said in a statement. 

The statement comes after French President Emmanuel Macron’s news conference during which he told reporters that he could not guarantee the success of France’s evacuation mission due to the security situation in Afghanistan. 

A person wounded in a bomb blast outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan on Thursday, Aug. 26, arrives at a hospital in Kabul.

Twelve US service members were killed and 15 more were injured following an attack near Kabul’s airport, Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, announced Thursday at a briefing.

McKenzie spoke at length this afternoon about the situation near Afghanistan’s Kabul airport, where, according to an official with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health, more than 60 people were killed.

President Biden will deliver remarks on the attack at 5 p.m. ET, according to the the White House schedule.

Here’s the latest:

President Biden will speak today on the attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan, a source familiar with the plans tells CNN.

He plans to speak at 5 p.m. ET, a source said.

US Central Command head Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie said the Taliban and US do share a “common purpose” in the Afghanistan evacuation mission.

When asked if he trusts the Taliban or if the group allowed the Kabul airport attack to happen, here’s how he responded:

“Now long-term, I don’t know what that’s going to be. I will tell you this: Any time you build a noncombatant evacuation plan like this and you bring in forces, you expect to be attacked. We thought this would happen sooner or later. It’s tragic that happened today. It’s tragic there is this much loss of life. We are prepared to continue the mission. … I think we can continue to conduct our mission even while we’re receiving attacks like this,” he said.  

Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, said that while they continue to investigate the perpetrators of today’s attack against Kabul airport, they are also focused on other “extremely active threat streams” to the airfield.

“But right now our focus really, we have other active threat streams, extremely active threat streams against the airfield, we want to make sure we are taking the steps to protect ourselves there. Our focus is on that,” he said.

The general explained that these threats mean they could be “imminent” and “could occur at any moment” and could include rocket attacks, vehicle attacks or a vest-wearing suicide attacker.

The general noted that over the next days they will learn more about the attack at the airport and hope to share more information.

Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, is working to determine who is behind the deadly attack at Kabul’s airport.

McKenzie went on to say they expected this kind of an attack and called the ISIS threat “extremely real.”  He added that they expect attacks will continue.

“We’re doing everything we can to be prepared for those attacks,” McKenzie said. 

The general said they are coordinating with the Taliban on security for the airport and that the US mission is continuing despite the attack, and that the US will “go after” the people responsible for the attack.

Twelve members of the US military were killed and 15 more were injured in the attack, McKenzie said. In total, more than 60 people were killed and at least 140 were injured, according to Afghan health officials.

While the “threat from ISIS is extremely real,” troops are still assisting with bringing people onto the airfield at Kabul’s airport, according to Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, commander of US Central Command.

McKenzie also said that officials expect attacks to continue and “we’re doing everything we can to prevent those attacks.” 

Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, said there are roughly 1,000 Americans left in Afghanistan following an attack at Kabul’s airport Thursday.

McKenzie added: “As of today we have 5,000 evacuees on the ramp awaiting air left. Since August 14, we’ve evacuated more than 104,000 civilians, over 66,000 by the United States and over 37,000 by our allies and partners. …  As the secretary of state said yesterday, we believe there are about a little more than 1,000 Americans left in Afghanistan at this point.”

Gen. Frank McKenzie, seen on a TV, and Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.

Twelve members of the US military were killed and 15 more were injured in the attack at Kabul’s airport, Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, head of the US Central Command, said at a briefing.

“It’s a hard day today,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie said the attack included two suicide bombers followed by gunmen opening fire.

There were at least two explosions near a gate at the Kabul airport today. They came as the US and other countries race to evacuate people ahead of President Biden’s Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline.

Prior to Thursday, the last America troops killed in Afghanistan were in February 2020.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.

Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie Jr., commander of US Central Command, and Pentagon press secretary John Kirby are speaking to reporters after at least two explosions were reported near a gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

Kirby confirmed in a statement that “a number” of US service members have been killed in the airport attack and “a number of others” are being treated for wounds. He did not provide specific numbers on casualties.

The Pentagon also noted the US is aware of Afghan victims.

Volunteers and medical staff unload bodies from a pickup truck outside a hospital after explosions in Kabul on August 26.

The terrorist attack in Kabul today left more than 60 people dead and at least 140 people wounded, an official with Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health tells CNN.

There were at least two blasts near the airport earlier today. The Pentagon earlier confirmed multiple US service members and Afghans were killed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was briefed on the situation in Afghanistan by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin by phone today, her spokesperson Drew Hammill tells CNN. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has also been briefed by the defense secretary on the situation, according to a statement from his office.

“I strongly condemn this act of terrorism and it must be clear to the world that the terrorists who perpetrated this will be sought and brought to justice,” Schumer said in the statement. 

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves following a visit at Northwood Headquarters, the British Armed Forces Permanent Joint Headquarters on August 26.

The United Kingdom will continue its evacuation operation from Kabul despite the attack near Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday. 

Speaking to British media in London, Johnson said his government has “already extracted the overwhelming majority” of people eligible for evacuation to the UK from Afghanistan.

“We’re going to continue with that operation and we’re now coming towards the end of it, to the very end of it,” Johnson said. “What this attack shows is the importance of continuing that work in as fast and as efficient manner as possible in the hours that remain to us, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a press conference as she meets with economic and financial organizations in Berlin at the German chancellery on August 26.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that those who have not yet been able to access evacuation flights from Kabul will not be forgotten, adding that the German Foreign Ministry is still in negotiations with the Taliban.

“We know that the window of opportunity is closing. Tens of thousands of people have been rescued but I want to say again today: we will not forget those people who could not be rescued by the air bridge. Rather we will do everything we can to enable their evacuation,” Merkel said.  

“We are in negotiations with the Taliban, being carried out by the foreign ministry, especially Ambassador [Markus] Potzel, and there will be international coordination as to how to proceed,” she added. 

Speaking during a news conference in Berlin, Merkel addressed the unfolding situation in Kabul following explosions at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, describing the incident as a “malicious and vile attack.”

“We see in this attack this afternoon that the risk is immense and that this is a very high pressure situation under which people are trying to get the people evacuated and to maintain the air bridge,” she added. 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called on President Biden to take “decisive action to protect our troops, our citizens, and our allies without regard for an arbitrary deadline.”

McCarthy urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to act quickly to brief Congress on the blasts near the Kabul airport.

“It is time for Congress to act quickly to save lives. Speaker Pelosi must bring Congress back into session before August 31 so that we can be briefed thoroughly and comprehensively by the Biden Administration and pass Representative Gallagher’s legislation prohibiting the withdrawal of our troops until every American is out of Afghanistan,” the California Republican said in a statement.

McCarthy extended his condolences to the families of those injured and killed in the attacks.

“Today’s attacks are horrific. My prayers go out to those who were injured and the families of those who were killed. I also continue to pray for the safety of our troops, the stranded American citizens, our allies and Afghan partners who remain in the area. Our enemies have taken advantage of the chaotic nature of the withdrawal,” he said.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby tweeted that he can confirm that “a number” of US service members have been killed in the airport attack.

The official also said “a number of others” are being treated for wounds. He noted that the US is also aware that Afghans “fell victim” to this attack.

He did not provide exact numbers.

See Kirby’s tweet:

Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger said the two explosions that took place near Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport should serve as a “reminder to Americans that when it comes to war, it’s not just one side that can decide if they want that war to end.”

Kinzinger said members of Congress were in a briefing this week and “were warned of this exact threat.” The blasts happened near one of the entry gates of the airport and appear to be suicide attacks, according to three US officials.

He said that while “there’s no good answer to this,” if President Biden does not respond to the explosions, it could embolden terrorist groups. 

“I think if the President does not respond where he can, if the President does not follow through on the commitment — even though this is going to slow up the evacuation — to get every American out, and the promises we have made to our Afghan partners, the view of us not responding after this attack and then fleeing from the Kabul airport, I think, will do a lot to embolden those that now have an easy way to go out and recruit other radicals to fight the United States of America and our partners,” said Kinzinger, an Air Force pilot who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The Taliban have acted like they’re going to secure the perimeter [of the airport]. They obviously did not. So I think there’s a case for the United States to make that we are not leaving until all Americans and all the Afghans that are SIVs that we’ve promised are safe, and we will go outside of the gate to get them if necessary,” he said. 

Kinzinger said the Biden administration should double-down on intelligence in place to monitor threats. 

“If we leave now without following through on our mission and our commitment to Americans and our Afghan partners, that will actually do more damage than any suicide bomb did today,” he said.

US officials believe ISIS-K was likely behind the attack at Kabul airport but are still working to confirm the terror group’s involvement, according to a senior US official and another source briefed on initial assessments. 

The second source told CNN it may take a few hours before US officials are able to identify the specific individuals who carried out the apparent suicide bombing, which should confirm ISIS-K was responsible. 

Warning signals have been out there for three days, the sources added. 

Over the past week President Biden and the Pentagon have warned of an ISIS attack at the airport as the threat became more acute. 

Biden has used this as rationale for getting US troops out by the deadline. He also promised a swift and forceful response to any disruption to the operation. 

On Wednesday, CNN reported that concerns about security around Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul have increased based on “a very specific threat stream” from ISIS-K about planned attacks against crowds outside the airport

The US believes ISIS-K, which is a sworn enemy of the Taliban, wants to create mayhem at the airport and has intelligence streams suggesting it is capable and planning to carry out multiple attacks, a defense official told CNN Wednesday.

President Biden’s schedule has been upended by the attacks near Kabul airport Thursday. 

“There will be updates to the President’s schedule, which we will share as they become available,” the White House said in a statement Thursday afternoon. 

Biden was meeting in the Situation Room with top national security officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, when the attack took place. CNN observed Blinken, Austin, and Milley arriving in the West Wing early in the 9 a.m. ET hour and the meeting was set to begin at 9:15 a.m. Vice President Kamala Harris attended the meeting virtually aboard Air Force Two as she traveled from Vietnam to Guam, and commanders on the ground were also in attendance virtually, according to the White House.

CNN reported on the first explosion outside the Kabul airport at 9:40 a.m. ET.  

It was not immediately clear when the meeting concluded, but as CNN’s Phil Mattingly reported, Biden and aides remained in the Situation Room for some time as the events developed.

Biden, according to the White House, “will continue to be briefed on updates on the evolving situation throughout the day.” 

The remaining events on the official White House daily guidance for Thursday have been indefinitely postponed or canceled. 

A 10:30 a.m. briefing with Biden’s Covid-19 response team was postponed to 10:45 a.m. and then postponed indefinitely, a White House official telling those logged into the Zoom that “due to worldwide circumstances,” the briefing was “delayed to a to-be-determined time.”

A noon press briefing with press secretary Jen Psaki has also been “delayed.”

Biden had been set to meet with new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at 11:30 a.m. That meeting has been postponed to a time to be determined. Around noon on Thursday, the group of reporters traveling with Bennett returned to their hotel. 

And a meeting between Biden and a bipartisan group of governors on resettling Afghan refugees set for 3 p.m. has been canceled. 

As of 12:15 p.m., CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported that Biden is in the Oval Office. 

President Biden’s national security meeting has wrapped up, the White House confirmed.

A press briefing, initially scheduled for 12 p.m. ET, has been delayed.

“The President’s virtual meeting with governors on Afghan refugees, which was scheduled for 3 p.m., has been canceled,” the White House said.  

There have been “no reported UK military or UK Government casualties” following an explosion at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, the UK Ministry of Defense tweeted Thursday.  

“UK forces are working closely with our partners to provide security and medical assistance,” the ministry added.  

According to a UK government spokesperson, the British government is “working urgently to establish what has happened and its impact on the ongoing evacuation effort” in Kabul. 

Downing Street has confirmed to CNN that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to chair an emergency Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) meeting Thursday afternoon (local time). 

Vice President Kamala Harris holds a press conference before departing Vietnam for the United States on August 26.

Vice President Kamala Harris has been briefed on the situation in Afghanistan, a White House official said.

The official went on to say Harris, who’s currently at Andersen Air Base in Guam, will continue to be updated.

President Biden was briefed on the situation in Afghanistan.

At least two explosions took place near the Kabul airport on Thursday as the US and other countries try to evacuate their citizens and Afghans at risk from the Taliban.

Three US officials and a source familiar with the situation said that, according to initial reports, there were some US personnel among the casualties.

Here’s a look at where the explosions happened:

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby and Army Maj. Gen. William “Hank” Taylor are expected to speak to reporters today after at least two explosions were reported near a gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

The Pentagon was originally scheduled to brief the media at 10:30 a.m. ET. New guidance on timing has not yet been shared.

The number of casualties is still unclear, but Kirby said in a tweet earlier today that a “complex attack” resulted in “a number” of US and civilian casualties.

According to initial reports, there are some US personnel among the wounded in the explosion, three US officials and a source familiar with the situation told CNN.

We will cover this briefing live here when it happens.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday the “coming hours will remain extremely dangerous in Kabul and at the airport,” following two explosions outside the Kabul airport.

Speaking at a joint news conference with the Irish prime minister, Macron said the situation around Kabul airport had seriously deteriorated.

“We are confronted with a very tense situation and we are coordinating with our American allies,” Macron said

“I cannot guarantee that we will be successful because the security situation is beyond our control,” he said.

Macron said for security reasons the French ambassador will not be staying in Afghanistan. He will be leaving and will then be based in Paris. 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair an emergency Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms (COBR) meeting, following an explosion at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, a Downing Street spokesperson told CNN.  

According to the spokesperson, the meeting “will begin shortly.”

There have been at least two explosions near a gate at Kabul’s airport this morning that “resulted in a number of US & civilian casualties,” the Pentagon said.

Images from the ground in Kabul show the scene near the Hamid Karzai International Airport, where at least two explosions took place near the Abbey Gate, according to the Pentagon.

The Pentagon confirmed a “complex attack” resulted in “a number” of US and civilian casualties.

One explosion took place at the Abbey Gate and another “at or near” the Baron Hotel, a short distance from Abbey Gate. 

President Biden is currently in the Situation Room, a White House official says. He was briefed on the situation in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are with him.

Biden was in the Situation Room with his national security team for his daily Afghanistan briefing when the information of an explosion came in, according to a senior administration official. He and his top aides have remained there as they continue to receive information from the ground and as events continue to develop, the official said. 

The President’s meeting with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET, has been delayed, a US official said. 

Moments ago, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed that there was at least one other explosion near the airport, at or near the Baron Hotel.

He said he can confirm that the explosion at Abbey Gate was a “result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US and civilian casualties.”

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed that there was at least one other explosion near the airport, this at or near the Baron Hotel.

He said he can confirm that the explosion at Abbey Gate was a “result of a complex attack that resulted in a number of US & civilian casualties.”

Note: The term “casualties” can refer to those wounded or dead.

See Kirby’s tweet:

President Biden has warned of the possibility of a terror attack at the airport as the threat became more acute, particularly naming ISIS-K in Afghanistan as the greatest threat.

He has used this as rationale for getting US troops out by the deadline.

Here’s a timeline of what he’s said over the past few days:

Aug. 20: 

Aug. 22

Aug. 24

Some background: CNN reported earlier that there was a grave and specific ISIS-K terror threat targeting crowds around the airport, and the US Embassy in Kabul advised US citizens at airport gates to “leave immediately.”

The attack comes as the US and other countries race to evacuate people ahead of President Biden’s Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline. 

The Pentagon has confirmed there was an explosion near a gate at Kabul’s airport which “resulted in an unknown number of casualties.” According to initial reports, there are some US personnel among the wounded, according to three US officials and a source familiar with the situation.

Back in the US, some lawmakers tweeted about the explosion and the developing situation.

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney described the attack as “horrific,” saying that his “heart breaks” for the wounded. 

Other Republicans blamed the White House: House GOP lawmaker Lisa McClain said, “Americans are dying at the hands of President Biden’s catastrophic withdrawal,” and Rep. Jim Banks referenced “Biden’s incompetence.”

We will continue to update this post as more reactions come in.

According to initial reports, there are some US personnel among the wounded in the explosion outside Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday, according to three US officials and a source familiar with the situation.

Moment ago, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby tweeted: “We can confirm that the explosion near the Abbey Gate of the Kabul airport has resulted in an unknown number of casualties. We will continue to update.”

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby just tweeted that an explosion near the Abbey Gate at Kabul’s airport has resulted in an “unknown number of casualties.”

President Biden has been briefed on the explosion.

Here’s Kirby’s tweet:

The US Embassy in Kabul just sent an alert saying, “US citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately” in the wake of a blast at the Hamid Karzai International Airport Thursday. 

“There has been a large explosion at the airport, and there are reports of gunfire,” the security alert said.

“U.S. citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid airport gates at this time,” it added.

Read the full alert below:

Event: EXPLOSION AT THE ABBEY GATE OF KABUL AIRPORT, REPORTS OF GUNFIRE

There has been a large explosion at the airport, and there are reports of gunfire.

U.S. citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and avoid airport gates at this time.

U.S. citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately.

Actions to take:

The explosion outside the airport in Kabul was at one of the entry gates and appears to be a suicide attack, according to three US officials. 

There have been crowds of Afghans at the gates trying to gain access to the airport.

President Biden has been briefed on the explosion outside Kabul airport, a White House official says.

President Biden has been briefed on the explosion outside Kabul airport, a White House official says.

Moments ago, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed there was an explosion but said possible casualties are unclear.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby confirmed there was an explosion outside Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.

According to one US official, there are injuries among Afghans, but there is no information yet on any US casualties.

CNN’s Barbara Starr noted that the situation continues to develop, and there are still few answers on what occurred.

The Polish evacuation effort in Afghanistan will end Thursday, according to a statement from Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. 

The statement posted on Twitter announced that the “evacuation operation for Poles and Polish associates” ends Thursday. 

According to Morawiecki the Polish evacuation operation began in June “when the situation in Poland began to deteriorate.”

The prime minister added that Poland “will provide support on Polish territory to all evacuees from Afghanistan.”

A further tweet from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland said that “thanks to diplomatic and coordination actions” Poland had “managed to help 937 people.”

At least 356 children were included amongst the 937 people, the Chancellery said, adding that a total of 14 flights had departed from Afghanistan to Poland.

“We helped our allies to evacuate partners from Lithuania, Estonia and the International Monetary Fund,” it said. 

The top US diplomat in Afghanistan on Thursday acknowledged that “there undoubtedly will be people in this country who would like to get out who will be unable to” as US evacuation efforts draw to a close.

Amb. Ross Wilson said the United States and other nations were working to try to make sure that Afghans who want to leave the country after Aug. 31 are permitted to do so by the Taliban, but he did not offer any guarantees.

Speaking about the evacuation efforts so far, Wilson said, “our primary focus, I’ll be direct on this, has been American citizens.”

“That’s the charge from President Biden and that’s what we’ve been working on most aggressively,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”  

“Each of those presents big challenges. Our effort is focused on getting the most, the most in those categories that we possibly can out, with special attention to American citizens,” he said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that there were as many as 1,500 US citizens who may be seeking to leave Afghanistan. There are tens of thousands of other vulnerable Afghans who are likely to be left behind once US evacuation efforts end.

The top US diplomat in Kabul, Amb. Ross Wilson, said Thursday that he could not get into the specifics of the security threat outside the gates of the Kabul airport cited in an embassy alert, but noted that “it was clearly regarded as credible, as imminent, as compelling.” 

“For American citizens in particular, we are working other ways, on an individualized basis, to assist them in getting to the airport in a safe and secure manner,” he said. 

“Being part of these huge crowds that remain around the gates, entrances to the airport, is dangerous. We’re obviously concerned about our own people as well,” Wilson said.

The US Embassy in Kabul on Wednesday evening ET time advised US citizens at a number of gates at the airport to “leave immediately,” noting “security threats outside the gates.”

The alert came as the administration has raised alarm about the potential of an attack by ISIS-K. ISIS-Khorasan is a branch 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 regards to organization and command and control has never been entirely established.

The US believes ISIS-K, which is a sworn enemy of the Taliban, wants to create mayhem at the airport and has intelligence streams suggesting it is capable and planning to carry out multiple attacks, according to the official.

In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, a Canadian coalition forces member walks through an evacuation control checkpoint during ongoing evacuations at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Tuesday, August 24.

Canada has ended its evacuation efforts in Afghanistan, Canada’s acting chief of Defense Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre said in a news conference Thursday.

Eyre says the United States told him this was “the largest military evacuation in history.”

The US and other NATO nations are still racing to evacuate their citizens from the country.

President Biden has said he is so far sticking to his Tuesday deadline for the final exit of US troops.

The latest 24-hour period evacuation numbers from the White House show a slowing pace as the airlift effort enters what is expected to be its final days.

From 3 a.m. ET Wednesday to 3 a.m. ET Thursday, 13,400 people were evacuated from Afghanistan, with about 5,100 on US military flights and 8,300 on coalition flights.

That brings the total to more than 95,700 people evacuated since Aug. 14 and more than 101,300 since the end of July.

CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed reporting to this post.

The Taliban’s leadership structure has long been a mystery, with little known about how it works beyond the group’s most influential figures.

After seizing control of Afghanistan, the Taliban are moving to form a new government, with pledges of inclusivity and reform. But a look at the group’s leadership structure suggests that the nature of the new government could very well mirror the Taliban’s previous hard-line regime.

The group is led by the reclusive Haibatullah Akhundzada, a senior religious cleric in his 50s who was named chief after a US airstrike killed his predecessor in 2016. Hailing from the Taliban heartland of Spin Boldak, in southern Kandahar province, he was involved in the mujahedeen — or holy Islamic fight — against the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, and was appointed as the leader of jihadi matters in 2001, according to a Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid.

His deputy, Abdul Ghani Baradar, was a prominent member of the Taliban regime when it was last in power, and as the head of the group’s political committee is currently one of the militants’ most public facing leaders. Baradar arrived back in Afghanistan after a 20-year-exile last week.

Here’s a look at what else we know about key figures and how the Taliban’s power structure functions:

A Pakistani soldier stands guard as Afghans arrive in Pakistan through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman, Pakistan, on August 26.

Traffic on the Chaman border crossing with Afghanistan in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan has “increased significantly” since the fall of Kabul, border officials tell CNN. 

In the past, no more than 12,000 people typically crossed the border in a single day, the official told CNN. 

Abdullah Khan, a resident of a Chaman town, told CNN that he often visits the Pakistan-Afghan border, he said there is a “situation of tension at the Chaman border” at the moment and “thousands of people” are coming to Pakistan side of the border. 

The border crossing is “over occupied” right now with people fleeing Afghanistan, he said.

A grave and specific ISIS-K terror threat is hanging over the frantic endgame of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, with time fast running out to rescue Americans and the fate of fleeing Afghans looking darker by the hour.

In an alarming sign of the deteriorating security environment, US diplomats in Kabul early Thursday local time suddenly warned American citizens to “immediately” leave several gates into the airport, citing security threats.

The warning came hours after a US defense official had told CNN that officials were alarmed by a “very specific threat stream” about the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, which planned to attack crowds outside the airfield.

Who are ISIS-K?

ISIS-Khorasan is a branch 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 regards to organization and command and control has never been entirely established.

US intelligence officials previously told CNN the ISIS-K membership includes “a small number of veteran jihadists from Syria and other foreign terrorist fighters,” saying that the US had identified 10 to 15 of their top operatives in Afghanistan. The group’s name comes from its terminology for the area that includes Afghanistan and Pakistan: “Khorasan.” 

The US Defense Department Inspector-General for Afghanistan (SIGAR) said in a report covering the months April to June of this year that “ISIS-Khorasan exploited the political instability and rise in violence during the quarter by attacking minority sectarian targets and infrastructure to spread fear and highlight the Afghan government’s inability to provide adequate security.”

ISIS-K has formed cells in Kabul which have carried out a number of devastating suicide attacks in and beyond the Afghan capital since 2016. 

The group has built up a presence in eastern Afghanistan in recent years, especially in the provinces of Nangahar and Kunar. Last August, the group attacked the main prison in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangahar, in an effort to free dozens of their supporters who had been captured by the Afghan army and police.

Read more about the group here.

President Joe Biden speaks about the situation in Afghanistan from the White House in Washington, DC, on August 24.

President Joe Biden will be holding a virtual meeting Thursday with a bipartisan group of governors “who have raised their hands to temporarily house or resettle vulnerable Afghans.”

The meeting is set for 3 p.m. ET.

What we know: With less than a week to go before the Aug. 31 withdrawal deadline, US evacuation efforts are ramping up in Afghanistan.

The US military increased flights out of Kabul yesterday to one every 39 minutes, the Pentagon says.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seen during a visit to Northwood Headquarters, the British Armed Forces Permanent Joint Headquarters, in Eastbury, England, on August 26.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said British forces have evacuated the “overwhelming majority” of people it deems eligible from Afghanistan.

In remarks in a pool interview on Thursday, Johnson noted the time UK troops have left in the country is “quite short.”

His comments come after British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said intelligence of an ISIS-K terror attack at Kabul airport is now “much firmer.”

Johnson said the UK would “keep going” with evacuations for “as long as we can” in Afghanistan as the Aug. 31 deadline looms and some European nations end their operations on Thursday.

The prime minister noted that the UK military has “in the last 10 days or so” airlifted 15,000 people to the UK from Afghanistan. The UK owes these people a debt and “there’s a huge amount of work now going on to make sure that we find homes by ways of integrating those people into this country,” he said.

“As I stand up and talk to you now, in the time we have left, which may be, as I’m sure everybody can appreciate, quite short, we’ll do everything we can to get everybody else, but I want to stress that this is just the first phase,” Johnson explained.

“So, even beyond the, the US deadline of the 31st of this month, we hope to continue to be able to say to people, well you can you can come out and one of the key things that we’re saying to the to the Taliban to the government, the new authorities in in Kabul is to engage with the West – to unlock those funds – safe passage is for those who want to come out is obviously the number one condition,” he added.

As the international evacuation mission winds down, there are still long queues of buses waiting outside the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport.

A journalist in Kabul working with CNN filmed a long line of buses at a standstill alongside the perimeter wall and heavy traffic congestion at the roundabout that leads to the airport.

The journalist said he saw only one bus getting inside the airport compound. 

President Biden is so far sticking to his Tuesday deadline for the final exit from a 20-year war in Afghanistan, but in an alarming sign of the deteriorating security environment, US diplomats in Kabul early Thursday local time suddenly warned American citizens to “immediately” leave several gates into the airport, citing security threats.

The warning came hours after a US defense official had told CNN that officials were alarmed by a “very specific threat stream” about the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, which planned to attack crowds outside the airfield.

Inside, thousands of troops are braving testing conditions and intense heat to fill cargo aircraft with US citizens and Afghans who helped American troops and officials and fear gruesome punishment by the Taliban.

The question now is how long the Pentagon will give the evacuation operation before it transitions to a mission to extract thousands of troops and materiel, which could take several days and curtail the departures of noncombatants.

 See what it looks like:

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00:43 - Source: CNN

A Danish coalition service member holds up a sign with a Danish flag to identify families for evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 21.

The Danish evacuation operation at Kabul’s airport ended following the departure of the Danish Hercules aircraft’s final flight on Wednesday evening. 

The Danish Ministry of Defense told CNN Thursday that the flight to Islamabad took off close to 6 p.m. Copenhagen time on Wednesday. 

The Ministry of Defense added that this was the final flight of the evacuation operation following a government decision made based on advice from the Danish Chief of Defense.

Since Aug. 15, Denmark has evacuated more than 1,000 people out of Kabul, with the group mainly comprising interpreters, Danish embassy staff, Danish citizens, people living in Denmark and people from other European countries.

CORRECTION: This post has been updated to reflect that the flight took off at 6 p.m. Copenhagen time instead of 6 p.m. Kabul time

People board a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III as they evacuate from Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 24.

The latest 24-hour period evacuation numbers from the White House show a slowing pace as the airlift effort enters what is expected to be its final days.

From 3 a.m. ET Wednesday to 3 a.m. ET Thursday, 13,400 people were evacuated from Afghanistan, with approximately 5,100 via US military flights and 8,300 via coalition flights.

That brings the total to more than 95,700 people evacuated since Aug. 14 and over 101,300 since the end of July.

Those numbers have slowed since the last 24-hour period, when approximately 19,000 people were evacuated, 11,200 via US military flights. The record was the 24-hour period from Monday to Tuesday, when approximately 21,000 were evacuated, 12,700 via US military flights.  

A source told CNN there was another 36 hours until the end of the operation to evacuate. The Department of Defense, however, has since said evacuations will continue longer, if needed.

UPDATE: This post has been updated with comments from the Department of Defense.

People evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan wait to board a bus that will take from Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia, to a refugee processing center, on August 25.

As thousands of Afghan citizens flee the country ahead of the United States’ self-imposed August 31 deadline to wrap up its operation in the country, the world is braced for what will become a huge refugee crisis. 

There is often confusion over the terms used when talking about refugees, asylum seekers and people who have a special status to live in certain countries under specific schemes, such as the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program in the US. 

Legally, anyone who has crossed an international border with a well-founded fear of persecution is a refugee, and as such is protected under international law. The United Nations’ 1951 Refugee convention describes such a person as “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.”

Of the 82.4 million currently displaced persons, 26.4 million are specifically refugees – in other words, not displaced internally within their own country or fleeing because of political unrest, natural disaster, food shortages. 

A good example of how refugees differ is the current crisis in Venezuela. 3.9 million Venezuelans are currently displaced overseas, but most of them had fled because of political unrest and the resultant issues like food shortages. Only 171,000 of these people are currently refugees. 

An asylum seeker, on the other hand, is a refugee who has arrived in the country they wish to live and has formally applied for asylum via that country’s formal channels. The country may ultimately decide that the individual does not meet the UN’s definition of refugee or that they should have applied for asylum in a different country. In this instance, the person might be sent to another country or in some instances back to the place from where they fled. Hence, these people in a state of limbo are asylum seekers. 

Finally, there are those who have special immigrant status, such as the SIV program in the United States. These people have applied for a special status which has been granted by the country they are seeking to enter. In the case of the US, many of these are people who worked with US and allied forces during the war, so therefore fear retribution from the Taliban. 

The problem many of these people are currently facing in Afghanistan is that the Taliban are preventing them from entering the airport; Afghan citizens leaving the country is bad PR for the militant group, who are claiming to have become more moderate.

With thanks to Steve Peers and Daniel Sohege

Paratroopers assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, conduct security as they continue to facilitate evacuations at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 25.

Intelligence of an ISIS-K terror attack at Kabul airport is now “much firmer,” British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said Thursday morning. 

“I can only say that the threat is severe. We will do our best to protect those who are there. There is every chance that as further reporting comes in, we may be able to change the advice and process people anew, but there is no guarantee of that.

“The window of opportunity to evacuate people is closing,” Heappey said, as the August 31 deadline to withdraw looms closer. 

Just under 2,000 interpreters and other UK government staff were evacuated in the last 24 hours under the UK government’s Afghanistan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) over eight Royal Air Force flights he said, with another 11 flights scheduled for Thursday. 

This brings the total number of British evacuations in the last week to 12,279, he added.

People disembark from a chartered Air Belgium plane carrying evacuees from Afghanistan, at a military airport in Melsbroek, Belgium, on Monday, August 23.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Thursday that a credible suicide bomb threat was the instigator behind his decision to end Belgium’s Red Kite evacuation operations from Kabul Airport on Wednesday. 

“This information prompted us to engage in a great deal of contact with our allies and ultimately cease all flights from Kabul to Islamabad,” he added. 

The last Belgian evacuees who remained on the tarmac at Kabul airport were evacuated last night, landing at 9:30 p.m. Islamabad time.

The Belgian teams also evacuated several foreign nationals. This brings the Belgian evacuation total to 23 flights and 1,400 passengers.

The Netherlands meanwhile expects its last evacuation flight out of Afghanistan will leave on Thursday, the government said in a letter to parliament.

“The Netherlands has been informed by the United States that it has to depart today and will most likely perform the last flights later today,” it said.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also now advised against travel to Kabul airport, following suit with the US and UK due to an ongoing terror threat from ISIS-K. 

And Denmark said its evacuation ended following the departure of the Danish Hercules aircraft’s final flight on Wednesday evening. 

The Danish Ministry of Defense told CNN Thursday that the flight to Islamabad took off close to 6 p.m. Kabul time on Wednesday evening. 

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, is pictured with President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, in November 2019.

French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call with Emomali Rahmon, the President of Tajikistan, on Wednesday, in which the leaders discussed their common approach with regards to the Afghan crisis, addressing the impending influx of refugees and the consequences of the Taliban’s rise to power.

“[Macron] celebrated the ongoing dialogue between France and Tajikistan, and he expressed his desire to develop new collaborations, notably on the border front,” the Elysée Palace said in a statement Thursday. 

Tajikistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan to the latter’s northeast, is approaching the 30-year anniversary of its independence on September 9. The two presidents also agreed to continue their exchanges moving forward in order to ensure regional “stability and security,” according to the Elysée.

Per Macron’s invitation via Wednesday’s call, Rahmon will visit the Elysée on October 13.

A Turkish soldier distributes water to Turkish nationals waiting to evacuate the airport in Kabul on August 18.

According to a top Turkish official, Turkey could stay on and help provide technical support to the Taliban in operating Hamid Karzai International Airport after its troops withdraw, Turkish state-run media Anadolu reported Thursday.

Turkish troops already began withdrawing Wednesday. They had been operating in Afghanistan under UN, NATO and bilateral agreements since 2002 to provide the “peace, welfare and stability of the Afghan people,” according to a statement from Turkey’s National Defense Ministry Wednesday.

Afghan resistance movement forces take part in military training in Panjshir province, Afghanistan, on August 24.

Taliban officials have said talks are ongoing with representatives from the northern Panjshir Valley, the last area of Afghanistan yet to fall to the militant group.

Sporadic fighting between the Taliban and the Panjshir-based National Resistance Front, led by Ahmad Masoud, has continued for a week. Taliban officials told CNN both sides had agreed to stop offensive actions. 

Representatives from both sides are negotiating in Charika, the capital of the neighboring Parwan province.

The Taliban officials said one sticking point was the insistence of the National Resistance Front that a national holiday in Afghanistan honoring Masoud’s father – Ahmad Shah Masoud – continue to be recognized.

Some background: Masoud led resistance against the Taliban when they were in power between 1996 and 2001. Sept. 9 has been a national holiday in his honor, marking the day he was killed in a suicide bombing in 2001.

The Panjshir Valley, some 150 kilometers (about 93 miles) north of Kabul, is the epicenter of Afghan guerrilla warfare. It has long withstood foreign occupation, and never fell to the Taliban during the militant group’s rule between 1996 and 2001.

People being evacuated from Afghanistan queue to board an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 24.

There are an estimated 150 American citizens left in Afghanistan whom the United States need to get to the airport, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The source said the estimate is the number known to need assistance to reach the airport as of 8 a.m. local time on Thursday morning. 

They added that since midnight local time, 200 had been evacuated to the base and flown out. This brings the total number of US citizens evacuated since August 14 to 4,700, the source added.

The statement suggests the operational total of Americans needing to be evacuated is smaller than the broader totals provided by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. 

Blinken said on Wednesday afternoon that there were 500 Americans identified who needed help to get to the airport. Blinken added there were another 1,000 who might need help, but whose citizenship or desire to leave were uncertain. Given the rate of evacuation overnight, the 150 operational total may be a revised update on Blinken’s total of 500, and may even include some of the 1,000 uncertain cases.

The source added there was another 36 hours until the end of the operation to evacuate, and the focus was now on local Afghan staff who worked for the US Embassy. “American citizens are still trickling in but their priority has shifted to local staff,” the source said. 

The source estimated there were about 1,800 local US Embassy Afghan staff still to get to the airport and “36 hours to do it.” They had already recovered 1,300 local staff and evacuated them, they said.

Access to the base is increasingly difficult, the source said. The source added that all the gates on the base were now closed, apart from the one that Afghan security forces were unofficially using to bring in their evacuees.

The main access point at the airport for many holders of Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), the Abbey Gate, was “fully” closed earlier on Thursday, possibly due to one of many IED threats, they added. “They were kind of able to pull people through yesterday but I think it’s totally cleared out and closed now. They’ve had multiple IED threats the whole time.”

The source added that gate closures mean there are “tons of special interest groups circling the airport in buses trying to figure out how to get in. Very little that can be done for them even though they’d love to help. So literally no one else can get in,” unless they are escorted. “Not even approved SIVs.”

The source expressed frustration at how Washington DC connections were forcing the operation to prioritize certain individuals. “These boutique special interest Congressional/WH groups that keep showing up are distracting from the core mission of getting those people out who we, the US, gave our word to.”

The source said the evacuation operation – although already winding down – would end Friday. The source added the British were departing on Thursday night. CNN has contacted the UK Ministry of Defence for comment.

A private jet thought to be carrying another US congressional delegation has been denied permission to land at Kabul airport, a source familiar with the situation told CNN on Thursday. 

The Gulfstream jet was visible over Turkmenistan on open-source air traffic websites, but its destination and final route were unclear. It was last seen over Baku, Azerbaijan, and departed from Athens, Greece.

It remains unclear which representative was on the jet.

On Tuesday two congressmen, Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Peter Meijer, a Republican from Michigan, made a clandestine trip to Kabul “to conduct oversight on the mission to evacuate Americans and our allies.”

The decision was criticized by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said: “We don’t want anyone to think this was a good idea. There’s a real concern about members being in the region.”

Karzai (center left) meets with senior Haqqani group leader Anas Haqqani (center right) and Abdullah Abdullah (second right) in Kabul on August 18. 

The Taliban has taken away security from former Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, an Afghan official who leads the High Council for National Reconciliation, a source told CNN.

On Monday, the Taliban confiscated weapons from Karzai’s armed protection team and took away his vehicles, prompting the former president to move in with Abdullah, the source said. On Wednesday, the Taliban later also searched Abdullah’s home and took his security and vehicles. 

Karzai and Abdullah are effectively under house arrest in Kabul without their bodyguards and at the mercy of the Taliban, according to the source. 

Last week, a Taliban spokesman told CNN that the group wanted to form an inclusive government. It has since held talks with former president Karzai and former chief executive Abdullah, both of whom stayed in Kabul when the Taliban took over the capital more than a week ago.

Abdullah previously said he was hopeful for the Taliban forming an inclusive government, the source tells CNN. Abdullah is less optimistic than he was a week ago.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York, on August 13.

Former UN employees have sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outlining the risks and dangers UN-affiliated personnel face in Afghanistan, according to a former employee familiar with the letter. 

In the letter, the former employees note they’re “gravely concerned about the safety of our colleagues and friends who are at risk,” especially after receiving “disturbing reports of the Taliban raiding homes, beating people for affiliation with international organizations and requesting meetings for ‘letters of forgiveness.’”

The letter cites UN protocol, which outlines the organization’s duty and responsibility to individuals it recruits and their families should they be endangered because of their work for the UN. The letter then directly notes that “locally-recruited personnel and their family members are indeed endangered as a direct consequence of their employment by organizations of the United Nations common system.”

“They should not be asked to sacrifice their lives and safety in order to accomplish this. It would be much safer for them to continue their work from outside of the country,” the letter concludes.

There are an estimated 3,000 UN staff in Afghanistan. Most are local Afghans, and about 10% are women.

The UN has previously stated about 100 international staff has left the country to work elsewhere. 

Guterres held a virtual town hall Wednesday morning including UN staff in Afghanistan to address ongoing safety concerns, according to a statement by UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

“We are continuing to look at possible relocations of international staff, also, obviously, of national staff that are at risk. But I think it bears saying again that the UN presence in Afghanistan is … the UN is present in Afghanistan and will remain in Afghanistan.” Dujarric said during the discussion.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, families walk towards their flight during ongoing evacuations at Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 24.

A grave and specific ISIS terror threat is hanging over the frantic endgame of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, with time fast running out to rescue up to 1,500 Americans and the fate of fleeing Afghans looking darker by the hour.

President Joe Biden is so far sticking to his Tuesday deadline for the final exit from a 20-year war in Afghanistan, after an initially chaotic drawdown that has since evolved into a mammoth and daring airlift of more than 82,000 people out of Kabul.

But in an alarming sign of the deteriorating security environment, US diplomats in Kabul early Thursday local time suddenly warned American citizens to “immediately” leave several gates into the airport, citing security threats.

The warning came hours after a US defense official had told CNN that officials were alarmed by a “very specific threat stream” about the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan, which planned to attack crowds outside the airfield.

Inside, thousands of troops are braving testing conditions and intense heat to fill cargo aircraft with US citizens and Afghans who helped American troops and officials and fear gruesome punishment by the Taliban.

The question now is how long the Pentagon will give the evacuation operation before it transitions to a mission to extract thousands of troops and materiel, which could take several days and curtail the departures of noncombatants.

President Joe Biden speaks about the situation in Afghanistan in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Aug. 24, 2021 in Washington, DC. Biden discussed the ongoing evacuations in Afghanistan, saying the U.S. has evacuated over 70,000 people from the country.

Related article Analysis: Terror threats hamper Afghanistan evacuation as Biden's deadline looms