Western nations warned their citizens Thursday to immediately leave the surroundings of Kabul airport over a terrorist threat, as thousands of people try to reach a dwindling number of evacuation flights.
Nearly 90,000 Afghans and foreigners have fled Afghanistan via the US-led airlift since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement took control of the country on August 15.
Desperate crowds of people are flogging to the airport? as some foreign nations cease flights ahead of Tuesday's deadline by President Joe Biden to end the evacuations and withdraw the US troops overseeing it.
One reason for the hard deadline cited by Biden and his aides this week was an "acute" terrorist threat from the regional chapter of the Islamic State group.
The US government and its allies raised the alarm further on Thursday with a series of coordinated and specific advisory warnings for their citizens to avoid the airport.
"Those at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately," said the US State Department, citing unspecified "security threats".
Australia's department of foreign affairs said there was an "ongoing and very high threat of terrorist attack".?
"Do not travel to Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport. If you're in the area of the airport, move to a safe location and await further advice."
London issued a similar warning, adding "if you can leave Afghanistan safely by other means, you should do so immediately".