U.S. Embassy tells Americans NOT to go to Kabul airport due to ‘security threats’

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The U.S. Embassy issued a stern warning to Americans on Saturday not to go to Kabul airport – which is the only way out of the country – because of ‘security threats’ outside its gates a day after President Biden vowed to bring citizens and Afghan allies home. 

‘Because of potential security threats outside the gates at the Kabul airport, we are advising U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a U.S. government representative to do so,’ the Embassy warning says.  

During a Saturday afternoon press conference, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby declined multiple times to discuss if the ‘security threats’ were from outside forces – such as Taliban attacks – or dangerous,  chaotic conditions just outside the gates.  

The Embassy’s warning was issued less than 24 hours after Biden said there was ‘no indication’ that the Taliban was stopping Americans and their allies from reaching the airport and promised to get everyone home. 

It was the first time Biden took questions from White House reporters – on a pre-approved list – in nine days since the chaos started unfolding in Afghanistan. 

‘Let me be clear, any American who wants to come home, we will get you home,’ Biden pledged during the speech that he started 50 minutes late where he stumbled over answers. 

This week, the U.S. evacuated 17,000 people, including 2,500 Americans, from Kabul over the past week, Major Gen. Hank Taylor said during Saturday afternoon’s press conference.  

On Friday, The president made a promise to ‘mobilize every force necessary’ despite admitting he doesn’t know how many Americans were left and he ‘cannot promise what the final outcome will be’. 

That number still eludes officials Saturday afternoon. Kirby said they don’t have a ‘perfect figure’ of how many US citizens are still in the Afghanistan. 

The president said it be as high as 15,000, and Kirby estimated it can be as low as 2,500. 

When asked if the window to evacuate is closing, Kirby said, ‘We know we’re fighting against time and space. That’s the race we’re in.’

‘Things are changing almost by the hour. It’s a very fluid and dynamic situation,’ he said.   

Scroll down for video.  

During the president’s Friday speech, he said allies around the world have not questioned US credibility over the chaotic Kabul evacuation, insisted Al Qaeda is gone from Afghanistan and claimed there has been ‘no indication’ the Taliban has blocked Americans from reaching the airport.

Minutes after, Biden said the mission to destroy Al Qaeda in Afghanistan was a success and that he knew of no circumstances where Americans had been unable to reach Kabul airport. 

He was flatly contradicted by the Pentagon shortly after the speech. 

Yes, Al Qaeda remains present in Afghanistan, Kirby said during a briefing, and yes, he was aware of reports of Americans being beaten by the Taliban as they tried to reach safety.

The contradiction raises further doubt about whether Biden is in control of the White House messaging operation, let alone the chaotic effort to bring Americans home.  

Over the last 12 hours, videos started emerging showing the pandemonium and occasional violence outside the airport. 

Kabul airport is the only way out of the country after the Taliban started seizing the country’s major cities. 

Abdul Ghani Baradar – one of the Taliban’s top leaders who negotiated the exit of US troops with former President Donald Trump in Qatar – arrived in Kabul on Saturday, marking another milestone in the Taliban’s assertation over the country.  

The world’s eyes are on him as he leads discussions with other Taliban leaders who will construct the framework for how they govern the country over the next week few weeks.

It’s a stark difference to the shadowy presence they maintained for years pre-9/11 when they ruled by harsh, draconian Sunni law. 

A Taliban official told Reuters that the framework ‘will protect everyone’s rights’ but would not be a democracy by Western standards. 

Biden continues to receive criticism at home and abroad about the pandemonium in Kabul and the botched military draw down. 

The August 31 troop withdrawal deadline is fast approaching, and the president hasn’t committed to extending the deadline despite the UK urging Biden to delay the withdrawal to help with the airlifting of as many as 6,000 British nationals and locals. 

NATO has begged the Biden administration to keep a troop presence on the ground for as long as possible, the Pentagon said just minutes later that Al Qaeda is present in parts of Afghanistan and there are multiple reports insurgents are using checkpoints to block safe passage to the airport. 

Meanwhile, evacuation efforts can be described – at best – as chaotic. Some outgoing flights were far from full because of Taliban checkpoints and bureaucratic challenges. 

Then a backlog at the transit facility in Qatar, which is one of the main countries welcoming refugees, stalled flights for hours on Friday. 

Major Gen. Taylor said on Saturday the last people airlifted out of the country was the 169 people taken by helicopter from a hotel just outside the Kabul airport.   

‘This is one of the largest difficult airlifts in history and the only country in the world capable of projecting this much power on the far side of the world with this degree of precision is the United States of America,’ Biden said on Friday. 

David Marshall Fox, an American who moved to Afghanistan in 2013, has been trying to get out of Afghanistan with his three-year-old son.  

In an interview with ABC News, he said the U.S. Marines sent warning shots in the air and threw flashbang grenades to get the crowd to back up.

‘I was yelling, “Americans. Americans here,”‘ Fox said while gesturing with his arm that he was pointing at himself and his son. ‘I made eye contact with (a Marine), and he just says, “Get back. Get back now.” And the Marines are firing warning shots in the air and throwing flashbangs.

‘And every time the Marines fired a volley of warning shots, the whole crowd would just surge back, and I was holding this little boy and trying to keep my balance.

‘After about 30 minutes of this, we realized we couldn’t stay there any longer. If we stayed, we realized there was a chance that we would pass out from exhaustion,’ Fox said. 

During the interview with ABC News, he said the airport is ‘very dangerous’ and the Marines ‘do not have control of it.’ 

During Biden’s Friday address, he was  asked if he was also committed to get out the Afghans who supported the U.S. war effort, with thousands still stranded on the ground because of the drawn out visa process and the delay in getting them evacuated. 

‘Yes, we’re making the same commitment. There’s no one more important than bringing American citizens out, I acknowledge that, but they’re equally important almost is all those [special immigrant visas], as we call them, who in fact helped us – they’re translators, they went into battle for us, they were part of the operation,’ Biden answered. 

He also said the U.S. was trying to get out Afghans working at non-governmental organizations, women’s organizations, and others.   

‘This is one of the largest difficult airlifts in history and the only country in the world capable of projecting this much power on the far side of the world with this degree of precision is the United States of America,’ Biden acknowledged. 

He insisted that the chaotic takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, leading to disarray at Kabul’s airport as westerners and Afghans flee, did not taint the U.S.’s global reputation.  

‘I have seen no question of our credibility of our allies from around the world,’ he said. 

‘There will be plenty of time to criticize and second guess when this operation is over, but now, now I’m focused on getting this job done,’ Biden added. 

The president talked about conversations he had with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron. 

‘We all agreed that will convene the G7 meeting next week. A group of the world’s leading democracies. So that together we can coordinate our mutual approach, our united approach, moving forward,’ Biden said.  

While dismissing a question about Afghans falling from aircraft posed Wednesday by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos – the one sit-down he did with press all week – on Friday Biden finally addressed the visuals.  

‘The past week has been heartbreaking. We’ve seen gut-wrenching images of panicked people acting out of shear desperation,’ he said. ‘It’s completely understandable, they’re frightened, they’re sad.’ 

‘I don’t think anyone, anyone of us can see these pictures and not see that pain on a human level,’ he added. 

Biden gave a status report on the evacuation, explaining why reporters on the ground saw no flights leave Kabul for a number of hours. 

‘We paused flights in Kabul a few hours this morning to make sure we could process the arriving evacuees at the transit points,’ Biden said. ‘But our commander in Kabul has already given the order for outbound flights to resume. Even with the pause, we moved out 5,700 evacuees yesterday.’