The US yesterday conducted a drone strike against an Islamic State (IS) target in Afghanistan, as the airlift of those desperate to flee moved into its fraught final stages with fresh terror attack warnings and encroaching Taliban forces primed to take over Hamid Karzai International Airport.
US forces overseeing the evacuation have been forced into closer security cooperation with the Taliban to prevent any repeat of the suicide bombing that killed scores of civilians crowded around one of the airport’s main access gates and 13 US troops.
The attack was claimed by a regional IS chapter, and the Pentagon announced that it had carried out a drone attack on a “planner” from the group in eastern Afghanistan.
Photo: AFP
“Initial indications are that we killed the target,” Captain Bill Urban of the US Central Command said.
With the airlift window narrowing sharply ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, more than 5,000 people remain inside Kabul airport awaiting evacuation.
However, crowds pleading for entry outside the perimeter gates have thinned to hundreds, said two people who gained access yesterday.
The carnage of Thursday’s suicide attack injected further stress and tension into a situation already fraught with panic and despair for those wanting to leave, and high risk for the US forces tasked with securing the operation.
Yesterday, two senior health officials from the former Afghan administration told reporters that the death toll from the blast had topped 100, including the 13 Americans.
Some media have put the toll as high as 170.
In the past few years, the Islamic State’s Afghanistan and Pakistan chapter has been responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in those countries — massacring civilians at mosques, shrines, public squares and hospitals.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said US national security experts consider another attack is “likely” and the next few days will be “the most dangerous period to date.”
Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi wrote on Twitter that the group’s fighters had already moved into parts of the military side of Kabul airport, but the Pentagon said that US forces retained control over the gates and airlift operations.
Racing to meet the Tuesday withdrawal deadline has required close cooperation with the Taliban on evacuee movements and the IS threat.
The head of US forces at the airport, Rear Admiral Peter Vasely, is in constant contact with the Taliban official overseeing security around the facility.
With the Taliban poised to take over when the last US plane leaves, discussions have begun on resuming normal flight operations.
Turkish officials have held initial talks with the Taliban in Kabul about helping get the airport back up and running.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Taliban offer was for them to oversee security at the airport, while Ankara runs logistical operations.
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