Taliban kill Daesh/ISIS leader behind 2021 Kabul airport attack

WASHINGTON

The Taliban have killed a Daesh/ISIS leader believed to have been responsible for the August 2021 suicide bombing outside Kabul airport that left 13 US troops and more than 170 Afghan civilians dead, the White House said Tuesday.

"The ISIS-K terrorist who was the mastermind of the horrific attack at Abbey Gate that killed 13 brave American service members and many others has been removed from the battlefield," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said in an emailed statement.

"He was killed in a Taliban operation, which is another in a series of high-profile leadership losses ISIS-K has suffered this year. He was a key ISIS-K official directly involved in plotting operations like Abbey Gate and now is no longer able to plot or conduct attacks," he added.

Kirby did not provide further details about the operation or the name of the ISIS-K leader but said the US made "clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists, whether al-Qaeda or ISIS-K."

Another US official cited by several US media outlets said the US did not coordinate directly with the Taliban in the killing of the ISIS-K leader.

The Biden administration is under criticism for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the chaos at Kabul airport in August 2021.

In January, Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee requested documents related to the withdrawal from the State Department to begin an investigation into the controversial move.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration released an after-action report on the withdrawal that blamed former President Donald Trump’s administration for a “lack of planning.”