The Taliban Promise To Provide Protection And Security: We Are Risking Our Lives Too At Kabul Airport

Illustration of the atmosphere inside Kabul airport, Afghanistan. (Twitter/@DeptofDefense)

JAKARTA - The Taliban has reiterated its promise to protect civilians outside Kabul airport, amid security warnings issued by the United States, Britain, and Australia over the threat of a terrorist attack.

The United States, Britain, and Australia issued security alerts to their citizens in Afghanistan, asking them to stay away from the Kabul airport area, as there is a threat of terrorist attacks in the region.

In response, Taliban officials said their guards were continuing to protect civilians outside Kabul airport, warning Western forces must meet a deadline for completing evacuations from Afghanistan by the end of this month.

"Our guards are also risking their lives at Kabul airport, they are also facing threats from the ISIS group", said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cited from Reuters, Thursday, August 26.

Taliban cadres have pledged to provide security outside Kabul airport, but intelligence reports of an imminent threat from Islamic State militants cannot be ignored, a NATO state diplomat in the Afghan capital said on Thursday.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, referred to warnings by Australia and the United States to their citizens to vacate areas outside airports immediately because of the report. Meanwhile, thousands of people desperate to escape the country gathered at the airport gates.

"Western forces, under no circumstances, want to be in a position to launch an offensive or defensive attack against anyone in Afghanistan. Our mandate is to ensure the evacuation ends on August 31", the diplomat said.

Meanwhile, Ahmedullah Rafiqzai, an Afghan civil aviation official who works at the airport, said people continued to crowd around the gate despite warnings of a terrorist attack.

"It is very easy for a suicide bomber to strike a corridor filled with people and warnings have been issued repeatedly", he told Reuters.

"But people don't want to move, their determination to leave this country that they're not afraid to even die, everyone is risking their lives", Rafiqzai continued.

Previously, President Joe Biden and US government officials had warned of the potential danger of terrorist attacks from the ISIS-K or ISIS-Khorasan group, which is one of the mortal enemies of the Taliban group.

"One of the contingencies that we are very focused on is the potential for terrorist attacks by groups like ISIS-K, which of course are the arch-enemy of the Taliban, so we will continue to work to minimize the risk and maximize the number of people on board", said US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan some time ago.