It’s in retaliation to the bombing at Kabul airport, which killed as many as 170 people.
The US military has said it believes it has killed a planner for Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K) in a drone attack, after the group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing at Kabul airport on Thursday.
The suspected member of the IS-K group was targeted in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.
IS-K has said it carried out the attack at Kabul airport. Sky News reports that the attack is now thought to have killed between 92 and 169 Afghan citizens.
Thirteen American military personnel and two British nationals also were killed in the suicide bombing.
The airport has been the scene of a mass evacuation effort ever since the Taliban took over the capital city, and it is thought more than 100,000 people have been evacuated so far.
However, on August 31 the US will be withdrawing its military presence from the airport, effectively ending the evacuation.
Joe Biden had promised that the US would retaliate after the attack. On Friday, the president said: “We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay.”
I will defend our people and our interests with every measure at my command.
To those who carried out this attack: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. pic.twitter.com/E9ji6WaL6t
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 27, 2021
Speaking about the drone attack, Capt Bill Urban of Central Command said: “The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties.”
An official told Reuters that a reaper drone struck the militant while he was in a car with another IS member, killing them both.
American forces have been in control of Kabul airport since the Taliban took over the city, controlling the evacuation process.
Since August 14, the U.S. has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 105,000 people. Since the end of July, we have re-located approximately 110,600 people.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 27, 2021
However the BBC reports that US and British troops are now “wrapping up” their operations at the airport and that the Taliban will takeover in a “matter of hours.”
Both the US and Britain have confirmed they will leave the airport by August 31, and most NATO countries have already ended their emergency flights out of Kabul. On Friday, France ended its evacuation effort, blaming deteriorating security at the airport.
Related links:
Taliban warns Britain and US to get out of Afghanistan by August 31
Boris Johnson makes cash offer to Taliban
Pen Farthing and rescue dogs trapped in Afghanistan after UK shuts Kabul airport gates
