It could, of course, also be a means of trying to getting the crowds to disperse as no more are going to be processed and admitted to the airport. The window has closed.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/n...mits-t8sqkwzg9
Western allies issue statements warning people to stay away from Kabul airport
Western governments issued what appeared to be co-ordinated statements last night warning their citizens to avoid Kabul airport and advising anyone not inside the perimeter as dawn was breaking in the Afghan capital to “leave immediately”.
The Foreign Office said: “Do not travel to Kabul Hamid Karzai international airport. If you are in the area of the airport, move away to a safe location and await further advice”…..
The US embassy in Kabul, now stationed at the airport, said: “Because of security threats outside the gates of Kabul airport, we are advising US citizens to avoid travelling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a US government representative to do so.”
The statement warned: “US citizens who are at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately”.
The Australian government issued a similar statement. Canberra described “an ongoing and very high threat of terrorist attack”…..
The new guidance from the Foreign Office warns of a terrorist threat and advises people near the airport to “move away to a safe location”.
The out-of-bounds area includes the Baron Hotel, where officials have been processing Afghans and Britons before they board RAF flights. New arrivals are likely to be turned away as the government focuses on trying to process those already in the hotel compound…….
Today is expected to be the final day for evacuating civilians.…..
Sources had also previously appeared confident that they could evacuate all British citizens as well as those on the Afghan relocation programme (known as Arap) which helps interpreters and other support staff.
Forces had been optimistic of taking 1,500 people on the Arap who are already at the airport processing centre waiting for evacuation in the final day or so of the airlift.
But defence sources conceded that they significantly underestimated the numbers requiring evacuation and could do little about those still struggling to reach the airport…..
The Arap scheme has had 4,000 emails in 24 hours from people applying late or asking for updates, while British citizens, Afghan civil society groups and western nationals are also coming forward through other routes.…..
It comes as the CIA and US military sent out secret snatch squads to rescue more than 1,500 Americans who are believed to still be in the country…..
Getting to Kabul airport, which is surrounded by the Taliban, has become increasingly difficult. The rescue operations, many of them clandestine, are using helicopters and ground troops under the direction of the CIA.
Priority is being given to American citizens over the many thousands of Afghans and their families who have worked with the US military, according to the
Wall Street Journal…..
The CIA, the US foreign intelligence agency, has not commented on the rescue missions, while defence officials say that they airlifted “less than 20” Americans to Kabul airport on Tuesday night.….