Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua via Getty
- The US Embassy in Kabul told Americans to avoid the airport over security threats.
- The embassy said anyone at three specifics airport gates "should leave immediately."
- CNN and the NYT reported an official said the alert was due to a "specific" threat from ISIS-K.
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The US Embassy in Kabul warned Americans of unnamed security threats at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, saying citizens should avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid specific airport gates "unless you receive individual instructions from a US government representative."
The security alert said any citizens currently at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate "should leave immediately," but did not provide any additional details about the threats.
US officials have previously warned of the possibility of an Islamic State attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, where thousands – Americans and Afghan allies – are waiting to be evacuated by the US.
A senior US official told The New York Times the security alert was due to a "specific" and "credible" threat from the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, ISIS-K.
CNN also reported that a US defense official said the security alert stemmed from "a very specific threat stream" from ISIS-K.
In a briefing earlier on Wednesday, US Maj. General Hank Taylor said that there are 10,000 people at the Kabul airport waiting to evacuate from Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden said the US planned to stick to its August 31 deadline to finish the evacuations of Americans and Afghan allies.