In this image provided by the US Marine Corps, Marines assigned to the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command provide security at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug 18, 2021. (1ST LT. MARK ANDRIES/US MARINE CORPS VIA AP)
WASHINGTON – The United States launched a drone strike against an Islamic State attack planner in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, the military said, a day after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 US troops and scores of Afghan civilians.
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A reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the militant while he was in a car with an Islamic State associate, a US official said. Both are believed to have been killed, the official added
President Joe Biden vowed on Thursday that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the attack, and said he had ordered the Pentagon to come up with plans to strike at the perpetrators.
US Central Command said the strike took place in Nangahar province, east of Kabul. It did not say whether the target was connected with the airport attack.
"Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties," a US military statement said.
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A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was against an Islamic State militant planning future attacks.
A reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the militant while he was in a car with an Islamic State associate, the official said. Both are believed to have been killed, the official added.
Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), an affiliate of militants who previously battled US forces in Syria and Iraq, said it had carried out Thursday's attack, which killed dozens of people – including Afghans who were trying to leave the country.
In addition to the 13 US troops killed, 18 injured were flown to Germany.
Earlier on Friday, the White House said the next few days of an ongoing US evacuation operation are likely to be the most dangerous.Some US media including the New York Times cited local health officials as saying up to 170 people, not including the US troops, were killed in Thursday's attack.
"We certainly are prepared and would expect future attempts," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington. "We're monitoring these threats, very, very specifically, virtually in real time."