Taliban kill ISIS leader responsible for the bombing at Kabul airport

The Taliban killed the leader of ISIS who ordered a series of suicide bombings at Kabul Airport in Afghanistan in August 2021. The bombings took the lives of at least 170 civilians and 13 U.S. military personnel. U.S. officials gave The New York Times a statement that the leader of the Islamic State, whose name has not been released, had been killed weeks ago, but time was needed before his death could be confirmed.

According to American officials, intelligence analysts had determined early this month that the mastermind behind the attacks had died in a Taliban operation in Afghanistan. It is not clear whether he was the target of that operation, or whether he was simply killed in fighting between the Taliban and ISIS fighters. The CBS News article wrote that experts within the government have a high degree of certainty that he was indeed the one responsible for the attacks.

National Security Council spokesman John F. Kirby described the Taliban operation as “another in a series of high-profile leadership losses” of the Islamic State cell, known as the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K). Recently, documents leaked by Air Force technician Jack Teixera indicated that Afghanistan had become a coordination zone for the Islamic State to plan attacks in Europe and Asia. General Michael Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command, had also stated that ISIS-K could launch attacks against US interests outside Afghanistan in less than six months.