Photo: Xinhua News Agency
The ISIS-K leader who planned the 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul International Airport was killed by the Taliban, the National Security Council announced via CNN.
The ISIS-K leader wasn't publicly identified, however, John Kirby, the National Security Council's coordinator for strategic communications, referred to him as "the mastermind of the horrific attack," which killed 13 American troops and more than 170 Afghans during the final days of the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan. Kirby didn't provide specific details on when the ISIS-K leader was killed, but said it was the latest in a "series of high-profile leadership losses" that the organization has experienced during the past year.
Abdul Rehman Al-Loghri, the terrorist who carried out the 2021 Kabul bombing, was previously released from prison near the airport days prior after the Taliban had claimed control of the area.
ISIS-K, an Afghanistan branch of the Islamic terror group, has been less known than its parent organization, but gained attention when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest outside Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 26, 2021. In March, CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla warned that the Afghanistan branch had strengthened since U.S. troops were pulled out of the country amid the conclusion of the Afghanistan War.
“Extremist groups see opportunity, and ISIS-Khorasan grows emboldened, seeking to expand its ranks and inspire enable and direct attacks in the region and beyond – with the ultimate goal to strike on the American homeland,” Kurilla said while addressing the Senate Armed Services Committee via the New York Post.
The US military had been resent in Afghanistan for 20 years, beginning in 2001 and had ousted terror groups from power until their evacuation in 2021.