Pentagon now says two ISIS-K targets were killed and one wounded in US drone strike: Claims terrorists were planning ‘more attacks in Kabul’ but were NOT senior. Embassy warns Americans to leave ‘immediately’ as Taliban seal off airport
The Pentagon has said that two ISIS-K targets had been killed and one wounded in the drone strike responding to the suicide attack in Kabul, after earlier confirming only one kill.
The two killed targets were ‘high profile’ and involved in planning the airport attack, but were not senior members of ISIS-K, Army Major Gen. William D. ‘Hank’ Taylor said at a Pentagon briefing on Saturday.
The Pentagon described the two killed targets as a ‘planner’ and ‘facilitator’ of ISIS-K plots, but declined to name them.
Another defense official told CNN that the strike on Friday only took place after surveillance on the compound confirmed the target’s wife and children had left.
Meanwhile, Taliban forces sealed off Kabul’s airport Saturday to most Afghans hoping for evacuation, as the operation enters its final hours.
The Pentagon said on Saturday that two ISIS-K targets had been killed in the drone strike responding to the suicide attack in Kabul, after earlier confirming only one kill
Most NATO nations have now flown out their troops after two decades in Afghanistan, winding down a frantic airlift that Western leaders acknowledged was still leaving many of their citizens and local allies behind.
The United States, which says the round-the-clock flights have evacuated more than 100,000 people since the Taliban claimed Kabul on August 15, was keeping up airlifts ahead of President Joe Biden’s Tuesday deadline for withdrawal.
Britain also was carrying out its final evacuation flights Saturday, though Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to ‘shift heaven and earth’ to get more of those at risk from the Taliban to Britain by other means.
Britain´s ambassador to Afghanistan, Laurie Bristow, said in a video from Kabul airport and posted on Twitter that it was ‘time to close this phase of the operation now.’
‘But we haven´t forgotten the people who still need to leave,’ he said. ‘We´ll continue to do everything we can to help them. Nor have we forgotten the brave, decent people of Afghanistan. They deserve to live in peace and security.’
Taliban forces were holding some positions within the airport, ready to peacefully take control as American forces fly out, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. The Pentagon stressed Friday that the Taliban, who now run Afghanistan, were not in control of any operations at the airport.