Isis-K planner believed to be behind Kabul attack killed in US drone strike
28 August 2021, 07:32 | Updated: 28 August 2021, 07:40
An Isis planner believed to be behind the devastating attacks in Kabul which killed as many as 170 people including 13 US troops has been killed in a drone strike.
The US military said the planner for the Afghan branch of Islamic State who was a suspected member of the group IS-K was killed in Nangarhar province.
Isis claimed responsibility for the attack on Thursday which targeted the evacuation operation. A mass airlift had been taking place there since the Taliban took over the capital earlier in the month.
More than 100,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan in recent days, with the deadline set by the US for its forces to leave Afghanistan expiring on Tuesday.
US spokesman Navy Capt. William Urban said they "conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner.
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"The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangahar Province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties."
A reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the militant who was in a car with an Islamic State associate. Both are believed to have been killed, the official said.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the United States believes there are still “specific, credible” threats against the airport after the bombing at one of its gates.
“We certainly are prepared and would expect future attempts,” Kirby told reporters in Washington.
“We’re monitoring these threats, very, very specifically, virtually in real time.”
A senior Taliban commander said some ISIS-K members had been arrested in connection with the Kabul attack. “They are being interrogated by our intelligence team,” the commander said.
The US has repeatedly warned citizens to stay away from Kabul airport.
In the early hours of Thursday, US, British and Australian intelligence agencies all issued urgent warnings for their citizens to get away from the airport warning an attack was imminent 'within hours'.
Joe Biden said on Thursday night that he had asked for options for retaliation against Isis-K.
Speaking to reporters from the White House, Mr Biden said: "To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this - we will not forgive.
"We will not forget.
"We will hunt you down and make you pay."
He added: "These ISIS terrorists will not win."
He paid tribute to the 13 US servicemen who were killed in Thursday's attacks on Kabul Airport, saying: "These American service members who gave their lives - it's an overused word, but it's totally appropriate here - [they] were heroes.
"Heroes who have been engaged in a dangerous, selfless mission to save the lives of others."
He said the lives lost were given "in the service of liberty, the service of security, the service of others".
