US says 2 senior Daesh/ISIS terrorists killed in Afghanistan

By Kasim Ileri

WASHINGTON (AA) – Two senior Daesh/ISIS terrorists were killed and one was injured in an attack by US forces in Nangarhar, eastern Afghanistan, a high-level US military official said on Saturday.

The attack came just days after bombings by the local affiliate ISIS-K in the capital Kabul killed 13 US soldiers, among a total death toll of 170, along with scores injured. US President Joe Biden vowed retaliation.

On the Nangahar attack by US army drones, Maj. Gen. William Taylor told a Pentagon joint press conference that two high-ranking Daesh/ISIS targets were killed and one was injured.

Taylor said that he did not know whether the slain terrorists were directly related to Thursday’s attack in Kabul.

Speaking alongside Taylor, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the attack was carried out based on information from US intelligence and that they did not get any support from the Taliban.

Noting that US forces continue evacuation efforts at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Kirby said that the evacuation of US soldiers has begun. There were around 5,000 US soldiers in Kabul.

The Taliban, which took over the Afghan capital on Aug. 15, have set a deadline of next Tuesday, Aug. 31, for foreign forces to leave the country.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar in Ankara