US killed ISIS operative in Afghanistan bombing

The American army bombed this Friday (early Saturday morning in Afghanistan) ISIS positions in that country and killed a person who allegedly planned future attacks on Americans in Kabul, the Pentagon reported.

The attack came just hours after US President Joe Biden warned this group on Thursday that he would hunt them down and that “I would make them pay” for the attack in the area of ​​Kabul airport, where they killed 13 members of the US military and around 170 Afghan civilians.

This suicide attack, which has claimed the most American victims in Afghanistan since 2011, was claimed by ISIS-K, an Afghan faction of the Islamic army, which rivals the Taliban who now control the country.

The United States Central Command said the United States had conducted a drone attack against an Islamic State operative in Nangahar allegedly involved in planning attacks against the United States in Kabul. The attack killed one person and spokesman for Captain William Urban said he was not aware of any civilian casualties.

It is not known whether this person was specifically involved in Thursday’s suicide bombing outside the gates of Kabul airport, where crowds of Afghans were desperately trying to enter as part of the ongoing evacuation of the country after the rapid takeover of the Taliban.

The airstrike fulfilled a promise President Biden made to the nation on Thursday, when he tearfully said the perpetrators couldn’t hide: “We will kick you out and make you pay”.

Pentagon executives told reporters on Friday they were ready for any retaliatory action ordered by the president. “We have options out there right now,” said Major General Hank Taylor of the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

By promising to attack the extremists who have killed 13 Americans and 170 Afghans, President Biden has the difficult task of locating and targeting them in an unstable country without US military and intelligence equipment on the ground and without assistance from the United States. ‘a friendly government in Kabul.

The situation on Afghan soil is one of maximum tension. President Biden was warned on Friday that another deadly attack could be underway in the next few hours, as the United States must finish evacuating thousands of people by August 31, when Biden’s withdrawal deadline refused to extend.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden’s national security team presented a grim picture.

“They informed the President and the Vice-President that another terrorist attack in Kabul is likely, but they take maximum protective measures against force at the airport, ”Psaki said.

LM