By Jorge
A US drone strike took out multiple suicide bombers as part of an “imminent ISIS-K threat” to the Kabul airport Sunday as officials raced against the clock to wrap up evacuation efforts in Afghanistan, US officials said.
The strike successfully knocked out a vehicle packed with a “substantial amount of explosive material,” Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for the US Central Command, said in a statement.
“U.S. military forces conducted a self-defense unmanned over-the-horizon airstrike today on a vehicle in Kabul, eliminating an imminent ISIS-K threat to Hamad Karzai International airport,” Urban said. “We are confident we successfully hit the target.”
“Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material,” he added.
Witnesses said the drone strike had targeted two cars parked in a residential building near the airport.
It is unclear if either of the vehicles were meant to be a car bomb or intended to transport the suicide bomber, a source told CNN.
But one of the cars was “loaded up and ready to go,” the source said.
Dina Mohammadi said her family lived in the building and that several of members were killed, including children. She was not immediately able to provide the names or ages of the deceased.
US officials didn’t immediately comment when news of civilian casualties emerged.
The drone attack drew criticism from the Taliban, who told CNN that it violated Afghan sovereignty.
Taliban spokesman Bilal Kareemi said the US was “not right to conduct operations on other’s soil,” the news network said.
“Whenever the US conducts such operations, we condemn them,” Kareemi said.
Meanwhile, there were initial reports that a rocket struck a neighborhood just northwest of the airport but it turned out to be the same incident as the drone strike.
The assault by the US is the second in Kabul since Friday and comes as officials wind down the historic evacuation of tens of thousands of Americans and Afghan allies from Hamid Karzai International Airport ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to withdraw.
And President Biden on Saturday warned that another attack could be imminent – within the next 24 to 48 hours.
Pentagon officials reiterated Sunday that the US will continue to strike at ISIS-K if other planned terror attacks are discovered.
The first US airstrike came Friday in retaliation for the deadly ISIS-K bombing at the airport, which killed more than 180 people, including 13 US service members assigned to the evacuation effort.
That strike killed two terrorists who officials said helped plot the attack.
The Taliban increased security around the airfield and the United Kingdom halted its evacuation flights.
The US’s military cargo flights continued their runs into the airport Sunday, ahead of Tuesday, as Biden and first lady Jill Biden attended a solemn “dignified transfer” ceremony at Dover Air Force Base as the bodies of the slain soldiers were returned to US soil.
Evacuations of US citizens and Afghan allies continued over the weekend, with government officials saying they believe they have “leverage” over the Taliban and will be able to complete the operation.
“That’s not about trust,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“That’s about the capabilities we have to hold the Taliban to the commitments that they have voice directly and the commitments they have made publicly.”
