A drone strike in Kabul on Sunday targeted a suicide bomber in a vehicle who was aiming to attack the airport, US officials said, as the United States nears the end of its military presence in the city.
The strike, first reported by Reuters, is the second carried out by US forces in Afghanistan since an ISIS suicide bomber struck the airport on Thursday, killing 13 US troops and scores of Afghan civilians trying to flee the country.
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden said the situation on the ground remained extremely dangerous, and that his military chiefs had told him another militant attack was highly likely within the next 24-36 hours.
US officials had said they were particularly concerned about the local affiliate of ISIS attacking the airport as American troops depart, in particular the threat from rockets and vehicle-borne explosives.
One US official said Sunday's strike was carried out by an unmanned aircraft piloted from outside Afghanistan, and that secondary explosions following the strike showed the target had been carrying a "substantial amount of explosive material".
US Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the American military's Central Command, called the drone strike an action taken in “self-defense.” He said authorities continued “assessing the possibilities of civilian casualties, though we have no indications at this time.”
“We are confident we successfully hit the target,” Urban said. “Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material.”
Witnesses reported an explosion near the airport and television footage showed black smoke rising into the sky.
Two witnesses said the blast appeared to have been caused by a rocket that struck a house in an area to the northern side of the airport, but there was no immediate confirmation.
Following Thursday's suicide bombing, the US military launched a drone strike on Friday that it said targeted members of the group in Nangarhar Province, east of Kabul.
That strike killed two "high-profile" ISIS-K planners and facilitators and wounded another, the Pentagon said.
US military cargo planes continued their runs into Kabul's airport Sunday, ahead of a Tuesday deadline earlier set by Biden to withdraw all troops from America’s longest war. However, Afghans remaining behind in the country worry about the Taliban reverting to their earlier oppressive rule.
