Taliban government forces have killed the Islamic State mastermind of a suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport during the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021, the White House said on Tuesday.
The bomber detonated a device among a crowd at the airport’s perimeter as they tried to flee Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021.
The blast killed about 170 Afghans and 13 US troops who were securing the airport for the exit.
Photo: EPA-EFE
It was one of the deadliest bombings in Afghanistan and prompted a wave of criticism of US President Joe Biden for his decision to pull US forces out of the country after nearly 20 years.
The leader of the Islamic State cell that planned the attack has since been killed by Taliban authorities, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
“He was a key ISIS-K official directly involved in plotting operations like Abbey Gate and now is no longer able to plot or conduct attacks,” Kirby said, referring to the spot outside the airport where the attack took place.
ISIS-K refers to Islamic State Khorasan, the branch of the group operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“He was killed in a Taliban operation,” Kirby said, without giving any details.
The pullout, which ended on Aug. 30, 2021, saw Taliban fighters sweep aside Western-trained Afghan forces in just weeks, forcing the last US troops to mount the desperate evacuation from the airport.
An unprecedented military airlift operation got more than 120,000 people out of the country in a matter of days.
Biden has defended his decision to leave Afghanistan, which critics have said helped cause the catastrophic collapse of the Afghan forces and paved the way for the Taliban to return to power two decades after its first government was toppled.
A recent Washington Post report citing leaked Pentagon documents said the US believes that since the withdrawal, Afghanistan is becoming a “staging ground” for the Islamic State group.
“We have made clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists, whether al-Qaeda or ISIS-K,” Kirby said. “We have made good on the president’s pledge to establish an over-the-horizon capacity to monitor potential terrorist threats, not only from Afghanistan, but elsewhere around the world where that threat has metastasized, as we have done in Somalia and Syria.”
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolleys, the company said in a Facebook post. The ban intends to maintain order and protect travelers’ safety, as the airport often sees large crowds of people, it said, adding that it has stepped up publicity for the regulation, and those who do not comply after a spoken warning would be reported to the police. The company yesterday said that
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
TECH CORRIDOR: Technology centers and science parks in the south would be linked, bolstering the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a “Southern Silicon Valley” project to promote the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor industry in Chiayi County, Tainan, Pingtung County and Kaohsiung. The plan would build an integrated “S-shaped semiconductor industry corridor” that links technology centers and science parks in the south, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said yesterday after a Cabinet meeting. The project would bolster the AI, semiconductor, biotech, drone, space and smart agriculture industries, she said. The proposed tech corridor would be supported by government efforts to furnish computing power, workforce, supply chains and policy measures that encourage application and integration
RSS