Taliban kill mastermind of suicide bombing at Kabul airport
File video above: Suicide attacks hit crowds outside Kabul airport
A ground assault by the Taliban killed the Islamic State militant who spearheaded the August 2021 that left 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Initially, neither the U.S. 바카라 게임 웹사이트 nor apparently the Taliban 바카라 게임 웹사이트 were aware that the mastermind was dead. He was killed during a series of battles early this month in southern Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Islamic State group바카라 게임 웹사이트s affiliate, according to several officials.
But in the past few days, U.S. intelligence confirmed 바카라 게임 웹사이트with high confidence바카라 게임 웹사이트 that the Islamic State leader had been killed, a senior administration official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
Late Tuesday night, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder issued a statement confirming that the plotter had been killed by the Taliban. 바카라 게임 웹사이트The United States was not involved in this operation," Ryder said.
Over the weekend, the U.S. military began to inform the parents of the 11 Marines, the sailor and the soldier who were killed in the blast at Abbey Gate, and they shared the information in a private group messaging chat. The father of one of the Marines said the death of his son's killer brings little comfort.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Whatever happens, it바카라 게임 웹사이트s not going to bring Taylor back and I understand that,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, said in a phone call with The Associated Press. 바카라 게임 웹사이트About the only thing his mom and I can do now is be an advocate for him. All we want is the truth. And we바카라 게임 웹사이트re not getting it. That바카라 게임 웹사이트s the frustrating part.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Hoover said he and his son바카라 게임 웹사이트s mother, Kelly Henson, have spent the past year and a half grieving his death and praying for accountability from the Biden administration for the handling of the withdrawal.
He added that the Marines provided only limited information to him and did not identify the Islamic State leader or give the circumstances of his death. U.S. officials declined to provide many details because of sensitivities in the intelligence gathering.
The administration official said it was their 바카라 게임 웹사이트moral responsibility바카라 게임 웹사이트 to let the victims바카라 게임 웹사이트 families know that the 바카라 게임 웹사이트mastermind바카라 게임 웹사이트 and 바카라 게임 웹사이트person most responsible for the airport attack바카라 게임 웹사이트 had been taken off the battlefield. The official added that intelligence officials determined that the leader had 바카라 게임 웹사이트remained a key plotter and overseer바카라 게임 웹사이트 for the group.
Several officials said the U.S. played no role in the killing and did not coordinate at all with the Taliban. The administration official called the Taliban action 바카라 게임 웹사이트significant바카라 게임 웹사이트 and said the U.S. only learned of the operation through its 바카라 게임 웹사이트over the horizon바카라 게임 웹사이트 intelligence capabilities.
Hoover is among a group of 12 Gold Star families that have kept in touch since the bombing, supporting one another and sharing information through the messaging chat. The chat was created by Cheryl Rex, the mother of Marine Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola, who died in the blast.
Rex, who has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration바카라 게임 웹사이트s handling of the withdrawal, told the AP it was through the chat group that they were informed late Monday about the killing as they awaited official confirmation from U.S. military officials.
The fallen service members were among those screening the thousands of Afghans frantically trying on Aug. 26, 2021, to get onto one of the crowded flights out of the country after the brutal Taliban takeover. The scene of desperation quickly turned into one of horror when a suicide bomber attacked. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility.
The blast at Abbey Gate came hours after Western officials warned of a major attack, urging people to leave the airport. But that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country in the last few days of an American-led evacuation before the U.S. officially ended its 20-year presence.
The Afghanistan-based offshoot of the Islamic State 바카라 게임 웹사이트 called Islamic State-Khorasan 바카라 게임 웹사이트 has up to 4,000 members and is the Taliban바카라 게임 웹사이트s most bitter enemy and top military threat. The group has continued to carry out attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, especially against the country바카라 게임 웹사이트s minority groups.
After the Trump administration reached a 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the Biden administration followed through on that agreement in 2021, there had been hope in Washington that the Taliban바카라 게임 웹사이트s desire for international recognition and assistance for the country바카라 게임 웹사이트s impoverished population might moderate their behavior.
But relations between the U.S. and the Taliban have deteriorated further since they imposed draconian new measures banning girls from school and excluding women from working for international aid and health agencies.
However, a line of communication still exists between the two sides, led by the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, Tom West. West바카라 게임 웹사이트s contacts are primarily with Taliban officials in Kabul and not with the group바카라 게임 웹사이트s more ideological wing based in Kandahar.
The U.S. decision to withdraw all troops fueled the swift collapse of the Afghan government and military, which the U.S. had supported for nearly two decades, and the return to power of the Taliban. In the aftermath, President Joe Biden directed that a broad review examine 바카라 게임 웹사이트every aspect of this from top to bottom바카라 게임 웹사이트 and it was released earlier this month.
The Biden administration in the publicly released version of the review largely laid blame on President Donald Trump for the deadly and chaotic 2021 withdrawal, which was punctuated by the suicide bombing at Abbey Gate.
온라인 바카라 게임 of the killing came on the same day that Biden formally announced he will seek a second term as president, offering a reminder of one of the most difficult chapters of his presidency. The disastrous drawdown was, at the time, the biggest crisis that the relatively new administration had faced. It left sharp questions about Biden and his team바카라 게임 웹사이트s competence and experience 바카라 게임 웹사이트 the twin pillars central to his campaign for the White House.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday the U.S. has 바카라 게임 웹사이트made clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists,바카라 게임 웹사이트 whether from al-Qaida or the Islamic State.
바카라 게임 웹사이트We have made good on the President바카라 게임 웹사이트s pledge to establish an over-the-horizon capacity to monitor potential terrorist threats, not only from in Afghanistan but elsewhere around the world where that threat has metastasized as we have done in Somalia and Syria,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Kirby said in a statement.
Yet Rex said the administration has not done enough to take responsibility for what happened at Abbey Gate.
"I feel like this is the administration trying to get the pressure off of them for accountability by saying that we바카라 게임 웹사이트re holding ISIS accountable for our kids바카라 게임 웹사이트 death,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Rex said.
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Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report.