The United States launched a drone strike against an Islamic State (Daesh) attack "planner" in eastern Afghanistan, the US military said on Friday, a day after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. troops and over 60 Afghan civilians.
US President Joe Biden vowed on Thursday that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the attack, saying he had ordered the Pentagon to come up with plans to strike at the perpetrators.
U.S. Central Command said the strike took place in Nangarhar province, Reuters reported.
"Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties," a U.S. military statement said. It did not say whether the target was connected with the airport attack.
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was against a Daesh militant planning future attacks, Reuters reported.
A reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the militant while he was in a car with a Daesh associate, the official said. Both are believed to have been killed, the official added.
Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), an affiliate of militants who previously battled U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq, said it had carried out Thursdays attack, which killed dozens of people - including Afghans who were trying to leave the country.
In addition to the 13 U.S. troops killed, 18 injured were flown to Germany.
Thursdays attack marked the first U.S. military casualties in Afghanistan since February 2020 and represented the deadliest incident for American troops there in a decade.
"We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," Biden said.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/23745
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