A U.S. official said on Saturday the target of its overnight drone strike was not believed to be a senior Islamic State militant, and did not rule out future action against the group.
U.S. and allied forces have been racing to complete the evacuations and withdraw by the Tuesday deadline set by President Joe Biden after two decades of American military presence in Afghanistan.
As of Saturday, there were fewer than 4,000 U.S. troops at Kabul airport, the U.S. official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters, down from 5,800 at the peak of the evacuation mission. read more
The attack killed scores of Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, the most lethal incident for U.S. troops in Afghanistan in a decade.
President Joe Biden promised on Thursday that Washington would go after the perpetrators, and U.S. Central Command said the drone strike took place overnight in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul and bordering Pakistan.
“Initial indications are that we killed the target,” a U.S. military statement said.
The Taliban, hardline Islamist militants, are enemies of Islamic State and have said they have arrested some suspects involved in Thursday’s airport blast.
The White House said the next few days were likely to be the most dangerous of the evacuation operation. The United States and allies have taken about 111,900 people out of Afghanistan in the past two weeks, the Pentagon has said.
US officials said another attack against the Kabul airport was a near certainty, and there were fears that it could be more destructive than Thursday’s attack. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul warned Americans to avoid the airport and said those at its gates should leave immediately.
Read More: Reuters
