Afghanistan: US targets suspected ISIS-K threat near Kabul airport

NEW DELHI: The United States carried out a drone strike in Kabul destroying an explosive-laden car that was reportedly meant to carry out another attack at the airport.
Taliban confirmed the incident while adding that a second strike may have hit a house.

The White House confirmed the attack, but said that its ongoing evacuations would "continue uninterrupted".
The incident comes a day after a US drone strike thwarted what officials said was another attack on the airport.

Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US Central Command said, "US military forces conducted a self-defence unmanned over-the-horizon airstrike today on a vehicle in Kabul, eliminating an imminent ISIS-K threat to Hamid Karzai International airport."

"Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material," the CENTCOM spokesman added.

"Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material," the CENTCOM spokesman added.

Although there were no civilian casualties but it is being investigated.
The strike was conducted even as President Biden warned that another attack at the airport could take place "in the next 24-36 hours".
"I directed them to take every possible measure to prioritise force protection," Biden said as the US continued its evacuation process at Kabul airport.

The United States reportedly had killed "high profile" targets in a drone strike in eastern Afghanistan in retaliation against a suicide attack at Hamid Karzai international airport in which 13 US troops were killed and several Afghans were killed.

Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) had claimed responsibility for the Kabul airport attack. On Sunday, the US embassy in a fresh advisory directed its citizens to leave areas around the main gates at the airport amid the terror warning.

Reports say the Taliban has sealed off roads leading to the airport with only buses with proper documentation allowed inside.