The Taliban have killed the ISIS-K mastermind behind the 2021 bombing at the airport in Kabul that left 13 U.S. troops and 170 Afghans dead, according to The Associated Press.
The ISIS-K leader was killed by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan in early April during a series of military operations against the terrorist group, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families of our 13 service members lost at Abbey Gate, whose courageous service and sacrifice for our nation will always be remembered,” Ryder said in a statement.
The Taliban may not have been aware of the person it had killed, but White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. was confident the mastermind was killed.
The Taliban and ISIS-K, an offshoot of the larger terrorist organization, have been fighting since the U.S. withdrawal roughly two years ago.
Kirby noted that the groups are “mortal enemies” who are expected to continue fighting in Afghanistan.
“They’ve been slugging it out since before we left Afghanistan and they continue to slug it out and attack one another,” he said. “So this battlefield loss is certainly not the first and we can expect that the Taliban will continue to put pressure on ISIS-K and I think it’s certainly conceivable that ISIS-K will continue to try to attack the Taliban going forward.”
Kirby declined to identify the mastermind of the attack, but described him as a “key ISIS-K official directly involved in planning operations like Abbey gate.” He added that the U.S. has communicated to the Taliban that Afghanistan must not become a place for terrorist groups to operate.
“We’ve made clear to the Taliban that it’s their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists, whether it’s al-Qaeda or ISIS-K,” Kirby said.
The August 2021 attack at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport was carried out by a suicide bomber carrying pounds of explosives.
The deadly event came amid the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation.
American forces were hurrying to evacuate U.S. citizens and refugees as the Taliban swept to power across the country and captured Kabul.
President Biden, who announced his reelection bid on Tuesday, has struggled with his messaging on the Afghanistan withdrawal, often perceived as the biggest blunder of his administration so far.
Earlier this month, the White House deflected criticism for the botched withdrawal, pinning the blame on the Trump administration and other factors.
House Republicans are investigating the withdrawal from Afghanistan and have recently demanded documents from the administration.
U.S. officials have begun sharing the information of the militant leader’s death with the families of the American service members who died in the attack, according to several news outlets.