The Sunday Guardian

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- CORRESPOND­ENT WASHINGTON

The United States attacked an Islamic State “planner” in Afghanista­n in retaliatio­n for a deadly bombing outside Kabul airport and said there was a high risk of further blasts as it winds up its mission to evacuate civilians and withdraw troops

A U.S. official said on Saturday the target of its overnight drone strike was not believed to be a senior Islamic State militant, and did not rule out future action against the group.

U.S. and allied forces have been racing to complete the evacuation­s and withdraw by the Tuesday deadline set by President Joe Biden after two decades of American military presence in Afghanista­n.

As of Saturday, there were fewer than 4,000 U.S. troops at Kabul airport, the U.S. official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters, down from 5,800 at the peak of the evacuation mission.

Thursday’s suicide blast, claimed by (ISIS-K), the Afghan affiliate of Islamic State, caused a bloodbath outside the gates of the airport where thousands of Afghans have gathered to try to get a flight out since the Taliban took control of Kabul on Aug. 15.

The attack killed scores of Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, the most lethal incident for U.S. troops in Afghanista­n in a decade.

President Joe Biden promised on Thursday that Washington would go after the perpetrato­rs, and U.S. Central Command said the drone strike took place overnight in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul and bordering Pakistan.“initial indication­s are that we killed the target,” a U.S. military statement said.

Spokesmen for the Taliban, which took over Afghanista­n as U.S. forces withdrew, did not comment on the drone strike.

The Taliban, hardline Islamist militants, are enemies of Islamic State and have said they have arrested some suspects involved in Thursday’s airport blast.

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