The Taliban have killed the leader of the Islamic State cell that carried out the August 26, 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul airport, which killed thirteen US soldiers and 170 Afghan citizens during the chaotic withdrawal of the US and its Western allies. Afghanistan, a White House spokesman said on Tuesday, confirming the information published by US media.
According to The Washington Post or The New York Times, which cited officials from the Joe Biden government, analysts from the US intelligence services discovered in early April that the terrorist, a leader of the Islamic State Khorasan, died in a ground operation carried out by the Taliban in Afghanistan at the beginning of the month.
The jihadist, whose identity has not been provided nor the exact circumstances or date of his death, was one of the leaders of the Afghan branch of the jihadist group "directly involved in the preparation of operations such as those of Abbey Gate (referring to one of the three access points to the Kabul airport where the explosion occurred)," said John Kirby, spokesman for the US Executive's National Security Council, in a statement.
The Pentagon assured that it did not participate in the operation that ended the life of the terrorist, and recalled that the country has "capacities to monitor and destabilize IS and other potential threats to our citizens and interests," said Brigadier General Pat Ryder. it's a statement.
According to The New York Times, US officials began briefing the families of the soldiers killed in the attack on Monday.
The suicide attack at the Kabul airport occurred while the US Army was carrying out a series of chaotic evacuations, amid crowds of Afghan citizens, many of whom were collaborators with Western organizations who were urging to leave the country for fear of reprisals. by the Taliban. Images of despair and lack of organization went around the world.
The attack further aggravated the situation and amplified criticism. Just hours before the explosion, Western officials had warned of the possibility of a major attack and urged people to leave the airport. In retaliation, Washington then killed two IS members in the country with a drone, although he did not specify if they were someone who had been involved in the attack.
Washington and its Western allies were forced to hastily withdraw their troops from Afghanistan after the rapid advance of the Taliban. On August 30, 2021, one minute before midnight, the last US soldier had left the airport in the Afghan capital 24 hours before the deadline set by the US president for the withdrawal of troops from the country.
The Afghanistan-based branch of Islamic State has up to 4,000 members and is the Taliban's staunchest enemy and main military threat. The group has continued to carry out attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power, especially against minority groups in the country. Lately, the Taliban have increased their interventions against the jihadist group
Despite the uptick in missions, the authorities insist that the terrorist group is under control and is hardly a problem. Since the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan a year and a half ago, dozens of suspected members of IS have died in operations carried out by the fundamentalists, in an attempt to materialize the security guarantees that they boasted before arriving at the Government.
