The United States launched a drone strike against an Islamic State attack "planner" in eastern Afghanistan, the military said on Friday, a day after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 US troops and scores of Afghan civilians.
US President Joe Biden speaks about the situation in Kabul, Afghanistan from the East Room of the White House. Photo: 2021 Getty Images
President Joe Biden vowed on Thursday that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the attack, saying he had ordered the Pentagon to come up with plans to strike at the perpetrators.
US Central Command said the strike took place in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul and bordering Pakistan.
"Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties," a US military statement said. It did not say whether the target was connected with the airport attack.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was against an Islamic State militant planning future attacks.
A reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the militant while he was in a car with an Islamic State associate, the official said. Both are believed to have been killed, the official added.
Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), an affiliate of militants who previously battled US forces in Syria and Iraq, said it had carried out Thursday's attack, which killed dozens of people - including Afghans who were trying to leave the country.
In addition to the 13 US troops killed, 18 injured were flown to Germany.
Injured people are carried to hospital following the attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Photo: AFP
There are roughly 5000 US troops at Kabul's airport, helping to evacuate American citizens, at-risk Afghans and other nationalities before Biden's Tuesday deadline.
Thursday's attack marked the first US military casualties in Afghanistan since February 2020 and represented the deadliest incident for American troops there in a decade.
"We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," Biden said.
He appeared to be fighting back tears and his voice cracked with emotion as he talked about the American "heroes" who died. He ordered flags at the White House and public buildings around the country to be lowered to half-staff.
Biden defended his handling of his most serious foreign policy crisis, saying ultimately it is his responsibility, while assigning some blame to his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, for the 2020 agreement Trump negotiated with the Taliban.
US forces in Kabul have been anticipating another attack from Islamic State militants.
Late on Friday the US Embassy warned that Americans should avoid travelling to the airport because of security threats, and those at the Abbey, East, North or Ministry of Interior gates should leave immediately.
- Reuters