US Strikes Afghanistan Days Before End of Withdrawal
The strike supposedly came in retaliation against the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport.
Old habits die hard.
In the latest Afghanistan developments, Washington just announced that it launched a drone strike against an Islamic state attack “planner,” in retaliation against the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport which left 90 Afghans and 13 US troops dead.
The attack came after US President Joe Biden’s speech on Thursday in which he vowed to hunt down the perpetrators, saying:
"We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay."
The strike took place in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul along the Pakistani borders, said the US Central Command.
In a statement by the US military, it was indicated that the target was initially killed while claiming not knowing whether or not civilians were also killed.
A reaper drone struck the militant while in his car with an ISIS associate, leading to both their death. The militant was believed to be planning future attacks, while the US did not disclose whether he was directly associated with the airport attack.
ISIS-K, or Islamic State Khorasan, claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack. The group is associated with the terrorists who were previously battling in Iraq and Syria.
US forces in Kabul claimed they have been anticipating another attack from Islamic State militants.
The current chaos experienced by the hasty US withdrawal from Afghanistan has generated much criticism from both allies and foes, which Biden took full responsibility for in his latest speech, all while pointing out at previous President Donald Trump 2020 agreement with the Taliban as the true starting point of this crisis.