Taliban said it killed the ISIS leader responsible for the 2021 Kabul Airport suicide bombing
The horrific incident resulted in the deaths of 13 U.S. troops and as many as 170 civilians
U.S. intelligence analysts were first made aware of the death of the insurgent earlier this month
The Taliban revealed that they killed an ISIS leader responsible for the 2021 Kabul Airport suicide bombing that resulted in the deaths of 13 United States troops and as many as 170 civilians.
The news, announced by the White House on Tuesday, Apr. 25, added that U.S. intelligence analysts were made aware earlier this month that the attack's mastermind lost his life in an operation in Afghanistan led by the Taliban group.
Taliban Kills ISIS Leader
However, it remained unclear whether or not the de facto rulers of Afghanistan were specifically targeting the ISIS leader or he was only collateral damage in a series of fighting between the Taliban and Islamic State fighters, as per the New York Times.
The spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, has called the Taliban's operation "another in a series of high-profile leadership losses" that the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) has suffered this year alone.
Based on the intelligence reports that were believed to have come from informants, electronic intercepts, or information retrieved from allied spy services, analysts could confidently conclude that the individual responsible for the Kabul Airport bombing was killed. However, no evidence was provided to support the claim or other details of the alleged incident.
On Monday, Apr. 24, the Joe Biden administration started calling the relatives of U.S. troops who died in the Kabul Airport attack to tell them about the news of the death of the ISIS leader. American officials spared some details that they shared with the victims' families.
The 2021 Kabul Airport suicide bombing struck the Abbey Gate entrance of the Hamid Karzai International Airport. The horrific incident was conducted during the chaotic withdrawal of United States military troops from Afghanistan, according to Aljazeera.
The Man Behind the 2021 Kabul Airport Suicide Bombing
Several U.S. officials and a senior congressional aide confirmed the accounts of the victims' families. They discussed some details of the situation under the condition of anonymity because the information they were sharing had not yet been officially released to the public.
One of the officials said the identity of the ISIS leader killed in the Tablian operation has not been released. Furthermore, they added that the group's fighters were unaware of the identity of the person they killed at the time of the attack.
The father of Marine Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover, Darin Hoover, was among the family members notified about the death of the ISIS leader. He said officials could not give him many details regarding the incident but argued that the sources who provided the information were "highly trusted."
Following the 2021 Kabul Airport suicide bombing, the United States launched a drone strike in the area, saying it was targeting another suicide bomber. However, officials later admitted that the missile mistakenly caused the death of 10 civilians, including seven children, said BBC.
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