The US military said it believes that it has killed a planner for the Afghan branch of the Islamic State (IS) terror group in a drone strike...
The US military said it believes that it has killed a planner for the Afghan branch of the Islamic State (IS) terror group in a drone strike in the east of the country.
“US military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an IS-K planner,” US Central Command spokesman Bill Urban said in a statement on Friday night.
“The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangahar province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties,” the statement added.
Urban described the drone attack as an “over-the-horizon counter-terrorism operation,” the BBC reported.
Thousands of IS-K extremists are believed to be in hiding in Nangarhar province.
The IS-K claimed responsibility for the deadly attack outside Kabul airport on Thursday that may have killed as many as 170 people, including 13 US service members.
Officials in Washington have warned of heightened terror threats to US troops in the aftermath of what was one of the deadliest attacks in the 20-year US-led invasion in Afghanistan, Xinhua news agency reported.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told a news conference Friday that “specific credible threats” are believed to exist, “and we want to make sure we’re prepared for those” threats.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki echoed the concern over those security threats, saying in a press briefing that American officials believe “another terror attack in Kabul is likely”.
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