London (Kaab TV) – The Taliban have killed the leader of the Islamic State cell responsible for the suicide bombing at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021 that killed 13 U.S. troops and as many as 170 civilians, the White House said.
It was unclear whether the Taliban were specifically targeting the insurgent, officials said.
Based on classified intelligence reports — most likely from informants, electronic intercepts or information from allied spy services — analysts concluded with “high confidence” that the chief plotter of the airport attack had been killed, according to officials.
It was “another in a series of high-profile leadership losses” that the Islamic State cell had suffered this year, John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said.
The administration yesterday began calling relatives of the American troops who died in the attack to tell them that the leader had been killed by Taliban security forces in recent weeks.
Officials did not go into detail about the operation, according to family members.
The 2021 evacuation from Afghanistan and its aftermath continue to be a subject of heated debate on Capitol Hill.
In the U.S., Republican lawmakers have accused the Biden administration of being directly responsible for the failures of the exit and condemned administration officials as inept when it comes to the future of counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan.