Taliban killed ISIS mastermind of Kabul airport attack: US officials

The Taliban killed the ISIS mastermind behind the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport in 2021 during the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, American media outlets reported on Tuesday.

Citing Biden administration officials, the Washington Post said the suspect was a leader in ISIS-Khorasan, also referred to as ISIS-K.

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It is unclear when the ISIS official was killed, but the officials said it took place in recent weeks.

The administration officials also did not release the terrorist’s name or how he was killed, saying that this could jeopardize Washington’s intelligence-gathering methods.

“We did not conduct this operation directly with the Taliban. We are not partnering with the Taliban. But we do think the outcome is a significant one,” ABC News quoted a senior US official as saying. The official added that the Taliban did not inform the US.

The attack occurred on Aug. 26, 2021, killing 13 US troops and at least 170 Afghans.

The Biden administration has rejected blame for the deadly and swift withdrawal. US military officials, including the top US general responsible for the exit at the time, recommended keeping a small force of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan. Biden rejected the advice and claimed this was not an option provided to him.

Republican lawmakers have reopened a probe into the botched withdrawal and demanded the State Department hand over relevant documents.

On Wednesday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken asking for the After-Action Review of the Afghanistan withdrawal to be declassified and made available to the public.

McCaul said that some information in the review “stands directly at odds with the administration’s public narratives.”