Key Points
- The blast killed some 170 Afghans and 13 US troops.
- The name of the Islamic State plotter killed by the Taliban has not been identified.
- The Taliban and IS have long engaged in a turf war in Afghanistan.
The Taliban government has killed the alleged mastermind of a devastating suicide bomb attack at Kabul airport during the chaotic withdrawal of US forces in 2021, according to the White House.
The bomber detonated among packed crowds at the airport's perimeter as they tried to flee Afghanistan on 26 August 2021.
The blast killed some 170 Afghans and 13 US troops who were securing the airport for the traumatic exit.
It was one of the deadliest bombings in Afghanistan in recent years, and prompted a wave of criticism of President Joe Biden for his decision to pull American forces out of the country nearly 20 years after the US invasion.
So who is the leader, how was he captured and what's happening in Afghanistan?
Who was he and how was he killed?
We have few details. White House national security spokesman John Kirby has confirmed that the leader of the Islamic State cell that planned the attack was killed by Taliban authorities, with reports this may actually have happened weeks ago.
"He was a key ISIS-K official directly involved in plotting operations like Abbey Gate, and now is no longer able to plot or conduct attacks," Mr Kirby said, referring to the spot outside the airport where the attacks took place.
There were 13 US service members killed during the suicide bombing at Kabul airport in August 2021. Source: AP / Carolyn Kaster
"He was killed in a Taliban operation," Mr Kirby added, without giving further details.
What led to the attack?
The pullout, ending on 30 August 2021, saw Taliban fighters sweep aside Western-trained Afghan forces in just weeks, forcing the last US troops to mount the desperate evacuation from Kabul's airport.
An unprecedented military airlift operation managed to get more than 120,000 people out of the country in a matter of days.
Mr Biden has long defended his decision to leave Afghanistan, which critics have said helped cause the catastrophic collapse of Afghan forces and paved the way for the Taliban to return to power two decades after their first government was toppled.
Nothing "would have changed the trajectory" of the exit and "ultimately, President Biden refused to send another generation of Americans to fight a war that should have ended for the United States long ago", the White House National Security Council said in a report to Congress earlier this month.
The bombing occurred as US troops were trying to help Americans and Afghans flee the country during the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban's takeover. Credit: AP
What's happening in Afghanistan now?
A recent Washington Post report citing leaked Pentagon documents said the US believes that since the withdrawal, Afghanistan is becoming a "staging ground" for the Islamic State group.
In his statement, Mr Kirby said on Tuesday: "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."
"We have made good on the president's pledge to establish an over-the-horizon capacity to monitor potential terrorist threats, not only from Afghanistan but elsewhere around the world where that threat has metastasised, as we have done in Somalia and Syria," he added.
The Taliban and IS have long engaged in a turf war in Afghanistan, and experts have pointed to the jihadist group as the biggest security challenge for the new Afghan government going forward.
