U.S. strikes Islamic State in Afghanistan after deadly Kabul attack

WASHINGTON, Aug 28: The United States launched a drone strike against an Islamic State attack "planner" in eastern Afghanistan, the military said on Friday, a day after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. troops and scores of Afghan civilians, reported Reuters.

President Joe Biden vowed on Thursday that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the attack, saying he had ordered the Pentagon to come up with plans to strike at the perpetrators.

U.S. Central Command said the strike took place in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul and bordering Pakistan.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was against an Islamic State militant planning future attacks.

A reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the militant while he was in a car with an Islamic State associate, the official said. Both are believed to have been killed, the official added.

In addition to the 13 U.S. troops killed, 18 injured were flown to Germany.

Thursday's attack marked the first U.S. military casualties in Afghanistan since February 2020 and represented the deadliest incident for American troops there in a decade.