According to US officials, the Taliban executed an Islamic State fighter identified as the “mastermind” behind a suicide bombing at Kabul’s international airport in 2021 that killed 13 US soldiers and dozens of civilians during the country’s chaotic departure.
The incident on August 26, 2021, when US soldiers were seeking to help Americans and Afghans in the chaotic wake of the Taliban’s takeover, underlined America’s sense of failure after 20 years of war.
According to White House spokesperson John Kirby, “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.” Nonetheless, he did not identify the name of the official.
Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K for short (after the ancient name for the region), is the Taliban-opposing branch of the Islamic State in Afghanistan.
Islamic State-aligned militants first appeared in eastern Afghanistan in 2014, and they have subsequently spread to other provinces.
