Kabul airport terror threat piles on pressure ahead of Afghanistan evacuation deadline

The evacuation effort in Afghanistan is growing increasingly desperate as terrorism fears at Kabul airport grow and the deadline for troops to leave the country approaches.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office warned of an “ongoing and high threat of terrorist attack” at Hamid Karzai International Airport on Wednesday night, as officials told UK nationals near the airport to leave and find a place of safety.

Eligible Afghans hoping to seek asylum in the UK would be better off now heading for Afghanistan’s border and trying to make their way to a third country, the Defence Secretary was reported to have told MPs.

Crowding has been a challenge for troops to manage as they attempted to evacuate as many people as possible.

But, now, an attack is feared, prompting instructions to stay away from the airport.

On Sunday, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the threat from the group at the airport was “real, acute” and “persistent”.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace held a briefing with MPs on Wednesday, where he is reported to have said it would be a “better option” for those who still need to leave the country to travel across the border.

The Government has previously said it will increase diplomatic support in neighbouring countries to process refugees who escape from Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, a British Army medic spoke of the situation at the airport.

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Caesar, a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon from 16 Medical Regiment, Royal Army Medical Corps, has been based at Kabul airport and had treated gunshot injuries, flashbang injuries, and people who have been crushed in the crowd.

“There have also been an unexpectedly high number of children being passed to us and being dealt with by the hospital,” Lt Col Caesar said.

Viral images have shown babies and young children being handed over to troops by desperate parents, often over walls topped with barbed wire.