Taliban Kill Mastermind of Kabul Airport Suicide Bombing, US Officials Say
A Taliban fighter at the site of the August 26 twin suicide bombs at Kabul airport on Aug. 27, 2021.
Photographer: Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A ground assault by the Taliban killed the Islamic State militant who spearheaded the August 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that left 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. officials said.
Initially, neither the U.S. nor apparently the Taliban were aware that the mastermind was dead. He was killed during a series of battles early this month in southern Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Islamic State group’s affiliate, according to several officials.