Biden told another Kabul terror attack 'likely'
Washington — President Joe Biden’s national security team has told the president that another terror attack is “likely” in Kabul, and that “maximum force protection” measures are being taken at the airport in the Afghan capital.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not go into detail on the assessment Biden received from his team one day after a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. servicemembers and scores of Afghans outside the airport.
Psaki says the next few days of the mission to evacuate Americans and vulnerable Afghans fleeing Taliban rule “will be the most dangerous period to date.”
Biden has said that he intends to complete the evacuation by his Tuesday deadline.
The Pentagon says it has determined that the attack at the Kabul airport on Thursday involved only one location and not two as was previously reported.
The Pentagon said there was one Islamic State suicide bomber, who struck at the Abbey Gate, where desperate Afghans were crowding to try and enter Kabul airport grounds and where U.S. troops were conducting security checks.
Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, the deputy director for regional operations on the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters on Friday that there was no second explosion near the Baron Hotel near the airport.
He said the bombing at the Abbey Gate was followed by direct gunfire from north of the gate — part of what the military has called a complex attack. Taylor said they have no more details on the identity of the shooters. Taylor attributed the incorrect initial U.S. report about a second explosion to confusion.
In its claim of responsibility late Thursday, IS said one of its fighters carried out the bombing and posted a purported photo of the bomber, posing with his explosives vest before the attack.
Two officials said 169 Afghans died, but a final count might take time amid the confusion. The U.S. said 13 troops were killed in what was the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since August 2011.
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