The risk of a terrorist attack at Kabul airport is increasing every day, the head of Nato has warned, as he described the “dilemma” countries faced in deciding when to terminate efforts by foreign troops to airlift people out of Afghanistan. 

Speaking a day after Joe Biden, US president, opted to stick to his plan to withdraw US troops by the end of the month despite European opposition, Jens Stoltenberg, Nato secretary-general, said the terrorist threat faced at the airport was not “theoretical” but “a real danger”.

“On the one hand we would like to have as much time as possible to get as many people out as possible,” Stoltenberg said in an interview. “At the same time?.?.?.?if we stay beyond [the] August 31 [deadline], especially if we don’t have at least a kind of tacit consent of the Taliban, the danger increases [of] attacks.”