US revealed details of attack on ISIS-K: “Early signs indicate we killed attack planner in Kabul”

The United States attacked the attack planner with a drone that killed at least 170 people, including 13 American soldiers, at Kabul airport on Thursday, US military spokespersons reported. The target was a head of the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, who claimed responsibility for the attack.

The operation took place in the province of Nangarhar, in eastern Afghanistan, and according to American sources, the Islamist leader would have died instantly.

“US military forces have looming counterterrorism operation against ISIS-K planner“said the captain Urban Bill, a spokesperson for the United States Central Command, in a statement. He was referring to ISIS’s ally in Afghanistan, also known as ISIS Khorasan, which claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack.

“The unmanned aerial attack took place in the Afghan province of Nangarhar“Said Captain Urban. “The first signs are that we have shot the planner. We don’t know of any civilian casualties“, He said.

The Pentagon announced on Friday that Kabul airport was target of the attack of one suicide and not of two, as initially stated.

The president of the United States, Joe biden, had promised to take revenge on the perpetrators of the attack, to whom he assured that he would persecute them and make them pay for the attacks.

US to continue Kabul evacuations until August 31 despite threats

American armed forces, now under enhanced security and also under the threat of a new terrorist attack, they evacuated from Kabul airport on Friday, the day after a suicide bombing at the terminal gates wrote a devastating final chapter in the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan.

The White House and the Pentagon they warned that there could be more bloodshed before Tuesday, the deadline imposed by President Joe Biden to end the airlift and withdraw US forces. The next few days “will be our most dangerous time yet” in the evacuationWhite House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

Thursday’s attack was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks the country has seen. The United States said it was the deadliest day for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since 2011.

As the call to prayer echoed in Kabul on Friday with the roar of departing planes, the impatient crowds that flocked to the airport in the hope of escaping Taliban rule seemed more numerous than ever, despite the bloody scenes seen the day before.

Afghans as well as American citizens and other foreigners were well aware that time was running out to get out by the airlift.

Jamshad traveled to the airport with his wife and three young children. He firmly held an invitation to a Western country he did not want to identify.

“After the explosion, I decided to give it a try. ‘Cause I’m afraid now there are more attacks, and I think now I have to go“said Jamshad, who like many Afghans only uses one name.

The Pentagon said on Friday that there was only one suicide bomber – at the airport gate – and not two, as US officials initially reported. An American official noted that the attacker wore an explosive charge heavier than usual of about 12 kilos, loaded with shrapnel, which would explain the high number of victims.

The US official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preliminary assessments of the attack. Officials who gave the Afghan death toll were not authorized to speak to the media and also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Among the Afghan victims were the founder of a news agency and several impoverished Afghans that they had come to the airport in the hope of having a better life.

Details on deceased Americans – 11 Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier – also began to emerge, before the Pentagon released their names. Among them was a young sailor from Wyoming whose wife is expecting a child from him.

British officials said two citizens of their country and the son of another Briton were also among the dead. when the bomb went off in the middle of the crowd.

The day after the attack, the Taliban used a van full of fighters and three captured Humvees to set up a barrier 500 meters from the airport, warding off the crowds than in front of the gates where the American troops are.

US military officials said some doors were closed and other security measures were applied. They said there were tighter restrictions on Taliban checkpoints and fewer people around the gates. The military said it also asked the Taliban to close some roads due to the possibility of suicide bombers in vehicles..

The Pentagon noted that the airport already had rocket attack defenses and said the United States would maintain manned and unmanned flights over the airport for surveillance and protection purposes, including the use of heavily armed AC-130 ground attack aircraft.

US officials said evacuees with the correct credentials were still allowed through the doors. Inside, some 5,400 people were waiting for evacuation flights.

In Washington, US commanders briefed Biden on plans to counter ISIS and keep the president’s promise to track down the attackers and “make them pay.”

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