A ground attack carried out by the Taliban has killed the Islamic State militant believed to have masterminded the Kabul airport suicide bombing that killed 183 people, including 13 U.S. service members, US officials announced Tuesday.
The Taliban assault happened earlier this month, and it was only over recent days that US intelligence analysts concluded “with high confidence” that he’d been killed.
The name of that senior operative of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) is still classified, and no additional details have been provided about the circumstances of his death.
The Department of Defense said the United States didn’t coordinate with the Taliban or otherwise aid the assault that killed the senior Islamic State terrorist. ISIS-K is the chief enemy of the Taliban, and has perpetrated an ongoing string of terror attacks. AP reports the group is believed to be 4,000-strong in Afghanistan.
Earlier this month, the White House released a National Security Council report that blamed the Trump administration for the disastrous exit. In addition to the horrific airport bombing, that exit included Afghanis falling to their deaths from departing Air Force cargo planes — and American taxpayers abandoning 22,000 Hummers, close to a thousand armored vehicles, 64,000 machine guns, 358,000 rifles and almost 200 artillery pieces.
After the report was released, White House spokesman John Kirby said Biden is “very proud” of how the withdrawal was carried out, and mind-bogglingly denied that the withdrawal was chaotic:
White House spox John Kirby on the disastrous withdrawal from #Afghanistan: “For all this talk of chaos, I just didn’t see it!” 🤣 pic.twitter.com/MCpykrUebb
— Viper (@viper202020) April 7, 2023
The August 2021 bombing occurred as thousands of Afghans mobbed Hamid Karzai International Airport, desperate to leave before the Taliban re-established full control over the country.
Last weekend, the Pentagon started notifying family members of the slain US service members. “Whatever happens, it’s not going to bring Taylor back and I understand that,” Darin Hoover, father of Marine Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover, told the Associated Press.
“About the only thing his mom and I can do now is be an advocate for him. All we want is the truth. And we’re not getting it. That’s the frustrating part,” added Hoover, who said that — ever since the explosion — he’s been praying for the Biden administration to be held accountable for mismanaging the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
That withdrawal capped a pointless 20-year war that killed 2,400 US service members and wounded more than 20,000. Along the way, they fought enemies created by their own government, were ordered to ignore pedophilia perpetrated by Afghan officers, breathed carcinogenic fumes from waste burn pits, and endured long-lasting psychological harm — all while their military and civilian masters lied about the war’s progress.
No wonder the military is falling far short of its recruiting targets.
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