ON THE RAMP:

 Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command]  said that U.S. forces are bracing for more attacks: "Typically, the pattern is multiple attacks."

"The threat from ISIS-K is very real, as we have seen," McKenzie said. "We believe it is their desire to continue those attacks and we expect those attacks to continue. We're doing everything we can to be prepared for those attacks. That includes reaching out to the Taliban who are actually providing the outer security cordon around the airfield to make sure they know what we expect them to do to protect us."

McKenzie said his "working assumption" is that the person who detonated the bomb had made it past a Taliban checkpoint and was among those being searched by U.S. service members.

The Taliban are searching people who approach the airport, he said, and "sometimes those searches have been good, and sometimes they have not." He said U.S. forces would continue to examine procedures and steps in an effort to improve screening.

McKenzie said U.S. forces are looking for the perpetrators of the "cowardly" attack and "are prepared" to respond. 

He said that U.S. forces in Kabul have what they need to protect themselves. He cited AH-64 attack helicopters and MQ-9 drones flying from the airfield, as well as F-15s and AC-130 gunships patrolling around it. He said anti-rocket and -mortar systems are in place around it. He also said that work has been done to keep truck bombers at bay, including asking the Taliban to push out the security perimeter and close certain nearby roads.

McKenzie said some of the aircraft had been shot at.

"They have taken shots at our aircraft on occasion without effect," he said. We think that's going to continue. As you know, military aircraft have a variety of self defense systems. What's more vulnerable are the charter aircraft and other aircraft that are coming in that do not have those systems."

He said systems are in place to protect these airlifters.

"The safety of our aircraft coming in and out is of paramount importance because obviously you have the opportunity there for 450 or more people to die," he said. "We know that ISIS would like to get after those aircraft if they can."

The attack came hours after the U.S. embassy put out an urgent alert to Americans who were still trying to leave the country to immediately get away from the gates, and British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey warned that crowds at the gate offered the terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, "a target that is just unimaginable." 

The military is rapidly completing its evacuation operations out of Kabul, though about 5,000 soldiers and Marines were still based there as of Thursday. About 5,000 evacuees are on the ramp in Kabul now, McKenzie said, and "we are continuing to bring people onto the airfield." 

The massive airlift operation has evacuated more than 104,000 Afghans, Americans, and coalition members from Afghanistan as of Thursday morning.

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