The Taliban have killed an ISIS militant who was the “mastermind” behind a suicide bombing at Kabul airport in 2021 that killed 13 American troops and scores of civilians, US officials said on Tuesday.
The bombing, claimed by ISIS-Khorasan Province — an enemy of the Taliban — occurred on August 26, 2021, as US troops tried to help their fellow citizens as well as Afghans to flee the country following the Taliban takeover.
The attack compounded America's sense of defeat after 20 years of war.
“He was a key ISIS-K official directly involved in plotting operations like Abbey Gate, and now is no longer able to plot or conduct attacks,” White House spokesman John Kirby said in a statement, referring to the Abbey Gate entrance to the Kabul airport where the blast occurred.
He did not name the official.
The blast came hours after western officials had warned of a potential major attack, urging people to leave the airport. But that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country.
About 170 Afghans were killed.
At the weekend, the US military began to inform the families of the 11 marines, the sailor and the soldier killed at the airport about the death of the ISIS-K official.
News agencies contributed to this report
World Mental Health Day
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World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
