Taliban Kills ISIS Operative Behind Attack on U.S. Service Members During Afghanistan Withdrawal

[mystery-ak]

Taliban Kills ISIS Operative Behind Attack on U.S. Service Members During Afghanistan Withdrawal
By Jeff Charles | 7:30 PM on April 25, 2023

A senior administration official confirmed to Fox News Digital that the ISIS-K terrorist responsible for directing the suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members during the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 has been killed by the Taliban.

The suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport resulted in the deaths of 11 Marines, one Navy sailor, and one Army soldier, with 18 other U.S. service members wounded and over 150 civilians dead. The official characterized the operative as “the mastermind of that awful attack” who had remained a key ISIS-K figure and was still engaged in efforts to perpetrate violence.

The official emphasized that this was a Taliban operation and not a joint operation with the United States. However, the official viewed this development as a symbol of the challenging landscape in Afghanistan for terrorists like ISIS-K, who may attempt to carry out plots against Americans.

“This was a Taliban operation,” he told Fox News. “We view this operation as emblematic of a landscape in Afghanistan. It has become very challenging for terrorists, like ISIS-K, who might seek to engage in the type of external plotting that could harm Americans.”

He also noted that the Taliban’s operation “reflects the president’s judgment that we did not need to remain on the ground in harm’s way in Afghanistan in perpetuity in order to effectively address any terrorist threats to us.”

“Regardless of who carried out the operation, the fact that this result was achieved, and this person who’s had American blood on his hands is himself no longer on the battlefield and able to perpetrate further violence, we think that is a development worth communicating to grieving families,” the official said. “We think it’s a development worth conveying to the world. And we think it’s important frankly, a development as the world continues to seek to degrade ISIS-K and any threat it might try to pose.”

more
https://redstate.com/jeffc/2023/04/25/taliban-kills-isis-operative-behind-attack-on-u-s-service-members-during-afghanistan-withdrawal-n736891

[mystery-ak]

NBC’s Mitchell: ‘We’re Relying on the Taliban’ for Counterterror, Them Taking out ISIS-K Leader ‘Completely Undermines’ Biden’s Line

Ian Hanchett 26 Apr 2023

On Tuesday’s edition of NBC’s “Hallie Jackson Reports,” NBC News Chief Washington Correspondent and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell reacted to the announcement by U.S. officials that the Taliban killed the mastermind of the ISIS-K suicide bombing at the Kabul airport in 2021 by stating that the incident “completely undermines” claims by the Biden administration that the U.S. can conduct over-the-horizon counterterrorism in the country and shows that “We’re relying on the Taliban” for counterterrorism.

Mitchell said, “Hallie, this only reinforces the fact that the U.S. is not in Afghanistan and that they are — that their counterterror strategy now depends on one bad group killing another bad group. We’re relying on the Taliban, these acknowledged terrorist leaders of Afghanistan who have taken over the government killing a rival faction, the ISIS faction.”

Host Hallie Jackson then asked, “What does this say, Andrea — back when the U.S. pulled out, withdrew from Afghanistan, there was some discussion that the capabilities that we had in the region would not be diminished because of the possibility, the ability to do…over-the-horizon kinds of things. How does this fit into that bigger picture of what the U.S.’s capabilities are in the region here?”

Mitchell responded, “Well, I think it completely undermines that claim…of we’re not going to lose the intelligence, we’re not going to lose the ability to do over-the-horizon hits. We didn’t do this, they say. The Taliban did.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2023/04/26/nbcs-mitchell-were-relying-on-the-taliban-for-counterterror-them-taking-out-isis-k-leader-completely-undermines-bidens-line/

[mystery-ak]

Biden Administration Says Taliban Inadvertently Killed Kabul Airport Bombing Mastermind

Frances Martel 26 Apr 2023

White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby claimed in a statement Tuesday that Taliban jihadists had killed a senior Islamic State official described as the “mastermind” of the 2021 Kabul airport bombing.

Kirby did not name the terrorist allegedly eliminated. Reports citing anonymous American officials say that Washington does not believe that the Taliban jihadists involved in the incident, which allegedly occurred in early April, were aware of who they had killed. The anonymous officials also denied U.S. involvement in the operation or any coordination between the United States and the Taliban.

On August 26, 2021, as thousands of Afghans desperately attempted to flee the capital via its airport in the aftermath of the Taliban’s takeover of the country, a suicide bomber detonated near the airport’s Abbey Gate, killing 170 civilians and 13 U.S. service members; the deaths were the largest loss of American soldiers in Afghanistan in a decade.

“He was a key ISIS-K official directly involved in plotting operations like Abbey Gate [the Kabul airport bombing], and now is no longer able to plot or conduct attacks,” Kirby asserted. “We have made clear to the Taliban that it is their responsibility to ensure that they give no safe haven to terrorists, whether al Qaeda or ISIS-K.”

ISIS-K is an acronym used for the Islamic State-Khorasan Province, the Afghan wing of the Sunni terrorist group.

Prior to Kirby’s confirmation, reports began circulating that authorities were notifying the families of those killed at the airport bombing of the death of the attack’s alleged mastermind.

“The account from the families to The Associated Press news agency was confirmed by three US officials and a senior congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that had not yet been made public,” Al Jazeera noted on Tuesday. These sources claimed that the Taliban were not aware of who they had eliminated.

ABC News quoted an anonymous “senior” American official who insisted that Washington played no role in the alleged terrorist’s killing.

more
https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2023/04/26/biden-administration-says-taliban-inadvertently-killed-kabul-airport-bombing-mastermind/

[catfish1957]

Biden, Blinken, and Nod.... (And Austin)

[bigheadfred]

Radical moslems killing radical moslems is a good thing. This should be encouraged.

[catfish1957]

Radical moslems killing radical moslems is a good thing. This should be encouraged.

Agree 100% Read the statements.  The level of incompetence and knowing what the hell is going on in the WH reads like a tragic comedy,  except that it is in real life.