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The US military says it believes it killed a planner from the Afghan branch of the Islamic State group in a drone strike in the east of the country.
The suspected member of the IS-K group has been targeted in Nangarhar province.
IS-K said it carried out an attack outside Kabul airport on Thursday that could have killed up to 170 people, including 13 US soldiers.
A mass airlift has been underway at the airport since Taliban militants invaded the capital this month.
In the past two weeks, more than 100,000 people have reportedly been evacuated, with the deadline set by the United States for its forces to leave Afghanistan expiring on Tuesday.
President Joe Biden on Friday vowed to track down the jihadists behind Thursday’s suicide bombing.
IS-K, or Islamic State’s province of Khorasan, is the most extreme and violent of all the militant jihadist groups in Afghanistan.
The US drone strike is the first reported in Afghanistan since Thursday’s explosion.
Capt Bill Urban of Central Command said, “The unmanned airstrike took place in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. The first indications are that we have killed the target. We do not know of any civilian casualties.
He described it as a “counterterrorism operation on the horizon”.
A Reaper drone, launched from the Middle East, struck the activist while in a car with another IS member, killing them both, an official told Reuters news agency .
Most of the thousands of IS-K extremists are believed to be hiding in the province, east of Kabul.
Twin bombs exploded near the perimeter of Kabul airport, hours after warnings from Western governments.
Thursday’s explosion outside Kabul airport devastated crowds of men, women and children.
Dozens of Afghans trying to leave the country have been killed. In addition to the killed American personnel, two British nationals and the child of a British national were among the dead.
“We won’t forgive, we won’t forget. We’re going to hunt you down and make you pay, ”Biden warned on Friday.
He said another attack in Kabul was likely in the coming days.
Around 5,000 US troops are still stationed at Kabul airport, treating those desperate to leave.
“We are providing swift passage for every foreigner to leave Afghanistan within the next 48 hours,” an unnamed Western official told Reuters.
Taliban officials say they have taken control of parts of the airport, but the United States says its forces are still in control.
The BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet, who is in Kabul, has been told by sources that US and British troops are “preparing” at the airport and that the Taliban will take over in “a few hours.” .
Most NATO countries have now ended their emergency flights. France put an end to its evacuation efforts on Friday, blaming the deterioration in security at the airport.
US officials have issued a new warning to US citizens to stay clear of airport gates in the event of further attacks.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the United States still believes there are “specific and credible” threats to the airport.
“We are certainly prepared and look forward to future attempts,” he said.
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