Taliban kills suspected ‘mastermind’ of bombing that killed 13 US troops, officials say.
The terrorist allegedly responsible for planning the August 2021 bombing at the Kabul, Afghanistan, airport that killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 160 Afghans was himself killed by Taliban fighters “in recent weeks,” U.S. officials say.
A senior Biden administration official on Tuesday described the deceased leader of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate (also known as ISIS-K or Islamic State Khorasan) as “the mastermind” of the attack, which involved a suicide bomber detonating an explosive device from within the dense crowds desperately trying to enter the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal.
“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,” the senior official said on Tuesday.
The U.S. did not coordinate with the Taliban in the killing of the ISIS-K leader, according to the official.
“We did not conduct this operation directly with the Taliban. We are not partnering with the Taliban. But we do think the outcome is a significant one,” the official said, adding that the U.S. did not learn of the killing from the Taliban.
