A ground assault by the Taliban killed the Islamic State militant who spearheaded the August 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport.
This attack left 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
“We have become aware in recent weeks that the ISIS-K terrorist most responsible for that horrific attack of August 26, 2021, has now been killed in a Taliban operation,” said a senior U.S. official Tuesday, according to ABC News.
The official said the U.S. did not conduct the operation with the Taliban.
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Initially, neither the U.S. nor the Taliban knew that the mastermind was dead.
According to the AP, he was killed during a series of battles early this month in southern Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Islamic State group’s affiliate, according to several officials.
But in the past few days, U.S. intelligence confirmed “with high confidence” that the Islamic State leader had been killed, a senior administration official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
Over the weekend, the U.S. military began to inform the parents of the 11 Marines, the sailor, and the soldier killed in the blast at Abbey Gate. They shared the information in a private group messaging chat.
The father of one of the Marines said the death of his son’s killer brings little comfort.
“Whatever happens, it’s not going to bring Taylor back and I understand that,” Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, said in a phone call with The Associated Press. “About the only thing his mom and I can do now is be an advocate for him. All we want is the truth. And we’re not getting it. That’s the frustrating part.”
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President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of U.S. personnel from Afghanistan in April 2021, ending a decades’-long conflict that began during the Bush administration after the events of September 11, 2001.
“With the terror threat now in many places, keeping thousands of troops grounded and concentrated in just one country and across the billions [of dollars spent] each year makes little sense to me and to our leaders,” Biden said at the time. “We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan — hoping to create ideal conditions for the withdrawal and expecting a different result.”
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