US sharing intelligence with Taliban to thwart ISIS attacks, general says

Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said the US 'will continue to coordinate with' the Taliban

U.S. military officials said the United States "will continue to coordinate" with the Taliban in providing safe passage to the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, where suicide bombers carried out an attack that killed 12 U.S. service members and injured 15 others.

Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of U.S. Central Command, said during a press briefing Thursday that the evacuation effort out of the Harmid Karzai International Airport will continue, and that the U.S. military had been sharing "information with the Taliban" to help prevent such attacks.

12 US SERVICEMEMBERS KILLED IN KABUL AIRPORT EXPLOSION, OFFICIALS SAY: LIVE UPDATES

"We share versions of this information with the Taliban, so that they can actually do some searching out there for us. And we believe that some attacks have been thwarted by them," he said. "We cut down the information we give the Taliban, they don't get the full range of information that we have, but we give them enough to act time and space to try and prevent these attacks."

McKenzie said he expected such attacks to continue and that the U.S. military is doing everything it can to be prepared for those attacks.

"That includes reaching out to the Taliban, who are actually providing the outer security around the airfield to make sure they know what we expect them to do to protect us, and we will continue to coordinate with them going forward," he said.

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Two explosions rocked Kabul earlier Thursday, one outside the airport's Abbey Gate and a second near the Baron hotel, where U.S. Army helicopters previously evacuated Americans into the Kabul airport.

President Biden has met with his national security team and will continue to be briefed on updates throughout the day, the White House said. The Department of State, meanwhile, has told congressional staff to stop directing Americans to the airport.

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