'Next few days are most dangerous': US forces helping evacuations on alert for more Kabul attacks

The White House said the next few days of an evacuation operation that has taken more than 100,000 people out of the country in the past two weeks were likely to be the most dangerous.

Some U.S. media said the death toll was far higher in Thursday's attack near the airport gates, where thousands of people have gathered to try to get inside the airport and onto evacuation flights since the Taliban took control of the country on Aug. 15.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the United States believed there are still "specific, credible" threats against the airport.

"We certainly are prepared and would expect future attempts," Kirby told reporters in Washington. "We're monitoring these threats, very, very specifically, virtually in real time."

U.S. and allied forces are racing to complete evacuations of their citizens and vulnerable Afghans and to withdraw from Afghanistan by an Aug. 31 deadline set by President Joe Biden.

Washington expects some ongoing engagement with the Taliban will be necessary after the withdrawal to facilitate further evacuations, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.

SOURCE: REUTERS