In what could be an indication about its fresh entanglement with Afghanistan, the US on Saturday conducted an airstrike in the eastern part of the country, targeting an affiliate of terror outfit Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) and one of the masterminds of Thursday’s bombings at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The US military said it carried out the drone strike in Jalalabad city of Nangarhar province at an ISIS-K group, killing a “planner” of the airport terrorist attack.

Fox News has claimed the slain militant planned to carry out such attacks in the future. 

The US media outlet also cited the US central command spokesperson saying that the target has been eliminated but there is no report of civilian casualties.

“US military forces carried out an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation against an ISIS-K planner in Nangarhar province. Initial indications are that we killed the target.” US central command spokesperson Bill Urban said.

The announcement did not identify the targeted individual but indicated that this could be the first of many reprisals at ISIS-K targets for Thursday’s terrorist attacks at the Kabul airport, Dawn reported.

Before the drone attack, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin telephoned Turkish Minister of National Defence Hulusi Akar and thanked “Turkey for its longstanding and significant support to the mission at Hamid Karzai International Airport,” the Pentagon said.

Local people in Jalalabad city said that the strike was carried out in Police District 7 of the city Saturday midnight, according to Khaama Press.

Over 100 people, including 13 US service members and 22 Taliban fighters, were killed in the airport attacks.

ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the attacks, prompting an immediate response from US President Joe Biden who  vowed to punish the perpetrators,

“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” the president declared in an address to the nation.

Biden also ordered American military commanders to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-K “assets, leadership and facilities.”

The attack at the airport was one of the deadliest in nearly two decades of the US-led war in Afghanistan.

Earlier, CENTCOM commander General Frank McKenzie said they were expecting other attacks and explosions at the airport and had asked the Taliban fighters to intensify their security level as the fighter man the security out of HKIA.

US embassy based in HKIA reiterated to people not to come to the airport and asked them to stay away as they are expecting an attack in Kabul.

As per the latest information, the US evacuation mission was not interrupted and the total number of evacuees now amounts to 111 thousand people.

The country has said that they will continue evacuating people until the last minute in Kabul

White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, said at a Friday afternoon news briefing that the militants were planning another attack in Kabul.

“The threat is ongoing, and it is active. Our troops are still in danger,” she said.

The attack at the Kabul airport has enraged Americans who were already unhappy with the Biden administration for the chaotic withdrawal that left Afghans at the mercy of the hardline Taliban. Biden’s detractors, including his predecessor Donal Trump, got further ammunition to criticize the president after the Taliban swiftly took Afghan capital Kabul virtually unopposed last week.

New York Times noted that President Biden’s pledge to “hunt down” the terrorists responsible for the attack “had grim echoes of warnings President George W. Bush made after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.”

US forces landed in Afghanistan in October 2001 – a month after a series of deadly terror strikes on its soil. Following a deal signed by Trump with the Taliban, the US announced a drawdown of troops. Carrying it forward, Biden has declared that all troops would be withdrawn by August 31.

(SAM)