The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has received credible reports of an imminent attack in the Afghan capital, the Embassy said Monday.
The threat is for a possible attack in the next 48 hours, the Embassy said in a statement.
“During this period of heightened threat, the U.S. Embassy strongly urges U.S. citizens to exercise extreme caution if moving around the city,” the statement said.
“There were no further details regarding the targets, timing, or method of the planned attack.”
Haqqani said to have ties to the Taliban and al Qaeda
The U.S. State Department continues warning American citizens against traveling to Afghanistan.
“The security situation in Afghanistan is extremely unstable, and the threat to all U.S. citizens in Afghanistan remains critical,” the State Department said.
While there was no official word on where the threat is coming from, one expert said it could well be from the Haqqani network, which is said to have ties to Pakistan’s intelligence services.
“The Haqqani network has been behind most of large-scale attacks in Kabul in recent years, including against the Intercontinental hotel in June 2011, the US embassy and NATO compounds in September 2011, and the Indian embassy in October 2009 and July 2008,” said Don Rassler, director of strategic initiatives at the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. military academy at West Point and the co-author of “Fountainhead of Jihad: The Haqqani Nexus, 1973-2012.”
He said the Haqqani network has close ties to the Afghan Taliban and al Qaeda.
