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Updated August 22nd, 2021 at 12:15 IST

IS threat amid Taliban crisis complicates USA's evacuation efforts in Afghanistan

For several years, the Islamic State has been active in Afghanistan, carrying out waves of assaults, primarily against the country's Shiite minority.

Reported by: Piyushi Sharma
IS
Image: AP | Image:self
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A senior US official confirmed that the US military is being forced to develop new strategies to transport evacuees to Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport in light of threats from Islamic State (IS) insurgents targeting Americans in Afghanistan. The threats are a fresh complication to the already frantic efforts to get people out of the war-torn country following the Taliban's rapid takeover.

IS threat complicates USA's evacuation process

Small groups of Americans and possibly other civilians would be given precise instructions on what to do, according to the US official, who informed, requesting anonymity, that the movement to transit points where they can be rounded up by the military will be part of the orders.

These developments come as the US Embassy issued a new security warning on Saturday, advising citizens to not travel to the Kabul airport unless they had received specific instructions from US government officials. Officials declined to provide details about the IS threat but said that it was serious. As of now, they claim there have been no confirmed attacks.

President Biden's new vow

US President Joe Biden had put forth the 31 August deadline to withdraw most of the remaining US military troops from Afghanistan. He did not commit to continuing with the deadline in his statements on Friday, but made a new vow to remove not only all Americans in Afghanistan but also tens of thousands of Afghans who had assisted the US military effort since 2001.

For several years, the Islamic State has been active in Afghanistan, carrying out waves of assaults, primarily against the Shiite minority. In recent years, the group has been routinely targeted by US airstrikes as well as Taliban attacks. Officials claim that fragments of the gang are operating in Afghanistan. The United States is concerned that it will re-emerge in a greater form if the country falls under the Taliban's divisive control. Despite the United States Embassy's warning, people remain outside the Kabul airport's concrete walls, clutching documents and occasionally stunned-looking children, who are unable to enter due to razor wire coils blocking their passage. 

(With inputs from PTI and AP, Image: AP)

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Published August 22nd, 2021 at 12:15 IST

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