Tailban killed an Islamic State leader who planned a suicide bombing at Kabul airport that killed 13 US service members.
The U.S. military has notified the families of 11 Marines, sailors and soldiers killed in the blast amid a chaotic U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
On August 26, 2021, some 170 Afghans were killed in an explosion outside Hamid Karzai International Airport.
The family members of the U.S. personnel shared the information in a private messaging chat group, according to a Marine mother.
U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the families’ accounts to The Associated Press.
The IS leader, who has not been identified, was killed in southern Afghanistan in early April.
According to one of the officials, the Taliban is conducting a series of operations against the Islamic State group.
The official added that the Taliban did not know the identities of the people they killed at the time.
The coffin with the remains of a Marine Corps staff sergeant. Darin T. Hoover was shipped to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.Photo: Associated Press
‘It’s not going to bring Taylor back’
The attack on the monastery gate comes as tens of thousands of Afghans try to board crowded flights to flee the country following a Taliban takeover.
At that time, countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States were evacuating thousands of citizens.
Darin Hoover, father of Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, who was killed in the attack, said the killing of the unidentified Islamic State leader did them no favors.
He said: “No matter what happens, Taylor will not be brought back and I understand that.
“The only thing mom and I can do about him right now is defend him. All we want is the truth. We’re not getting it. That’s the frustrating part.”
Afghanistan troop withdrawal ‘a disaster’
His son was among thousands of servicemen who were checking on thousands of Afghans trying to board one of the flights leaving the country.
Mr. Hoover said he and his son’s mother, Kelly Hansen, have been grieving the 31-year-old’s death for the past year and a half and praying that the Joe Biden administration will be held accountable for the handling of the withdrawal.
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He added that the Marines provided him with limited information on Tuesday, did not identify the leader or say how he died.
The 2021 blast came hours after Western officials warned of a major attack and urged people to leave the airport.
But many Afghans are desperate to flee the country in the final days of the US-led evacuation, before the US formally ends its 20-year presence in the country.
The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan is the Taliban’s most staunch enemy and its number one military threat.
Since the Taliban took over, the group has continued to carry out attacks in Afghanistan, particularly targeting the country’s minorities.