The Taliban killed the suspected mastermind behind a devastating suicide bombing at Kabul airport during the chaotic withdrawal of US forces in 2021, according to US sources. The jihadist organized the August 26, 2021 attack and other assassinations for the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (IS-K) group, the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) militia, said US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, in Washington.
He did not provide any further information about the man’s identity or when and how he was killed. The IS-K is at enmity with the Taliban and has carried out several serious attacks in Afghanistan in recent years.
The radical Islamic Taliban seized power in the country again in August 2021 amidst the US and its allies’ troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The troop withdrawal was overshadowed by the attack at the airport in the capital Kabul, in which 13 US soldiers and at least 170 Afghans were killed.
At the time of the attack, thousands of people had tried to board one of the evacuation planes at the Afghan capital’s airport, which the United States and other western countries used to bring their citizens and local workers from Afghanistan to safety.
