Two 'high-profile' Isis-K members killed and one wounded in US drone strike
28 August 2021, 18:18
A US drone strike has killed two "high profile" Isis targets and wounded a third in retaliation for Thursday's suicide bombing at Kabul airport, the Pentagon has confirmed.
Major General William "Hank" Taylor told a news briefing that the United States killed an Isis-K planner and a facilitator in the drone strike on Thursday.
He said they know of no civilian casualties.
When questioned about the US airstrike, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said: "They lost a planner and they lost a facilitator and they have got one wounded - the fact that two of these individuals are no longer walking on the face of the Earth, that is a good thing."
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The unnamed fighter had been riding in a vehicle with an associate at the time of the strike, which was carried out by an MQ-9 Reaper drone, said Captain Bill Urban, spokesman for US Central Command.
The airstrike was a retaliation for the devastating suicide bombing that killed between 79 and 169 Afghans, 13 US military personnel and three British nationals, one of whom was a child.
More than 150 people were injured in the attack outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, including 18 US service personnel.
Isis claimed responsibility for the attack on Thursday.
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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.
The Pentagon said on Saturday there are approximately 1,400 individuals at Kabul airport who have been screened and manifested for flights.
"We are going to complete this mission by the end of the month, nothing has changed about that timeline for us," said Mr Kirby.
He said the threats are "still very real and very dynamic and we are monitoring them 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.
This story is being updated
