U.S. Executes Revenge Drone Strike On ISIS-K “Planner” In Afghanistan (Updated)

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After a suicide bomber wearing a vest laden with roughly 25 pounds of high explosive killed 13 American servicepeople and many more civilians at Abbey Gate along the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport, U.S. Central Command has announced that one of the drones under its command apparently killed an ISIS-K “planner.” The drone strike occurred in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. This comes just over a day after President Biden promised to hunt down those responsible for the attack and punish them. 

The statement from U.S. Central Command reads:

The following statement is attributable to Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command

“U.S. military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner. The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangahar Province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties.”

We do not know if this planner is the same one that is responsible for the attack on the airport or another one of the group’s masterminds. We also don’t know how many people were involved in the attack and the planning that led up to it. Regardless, this action clearly underscores Biden’s promise to take action against ISIS-K. 

BREAKING: Pres. Biden says he's ordered his commanders "to develop operational plans to strike ISIS-K assets, leadership and facilities."

"We will respond with force and precision at our time, at the place we choose and the moment of our choosing." https://t.co/aVzjnzGos5 pic.twitter.com/kTw6VbCCSA

— ABC News (@ABC) August 26, 2021

The statement does specifically say this was an “over the horizon” operation, in which an aircraft flew from outside Afghanistan to conduct the counter-terror strike. This concept of operations is what the Biden Administration will rely on once U.S. forces leave Afghanistan. It is also worth noting that this strike occurred before the United States had left the war-torn country. Some posited action would be put on hold until then as to not instigate another terror attack. This is a dubious idea that does not fall in line with how ISIS operates. 

UPDATE:

MQ-9 was used as is logical. If we get images of the scene, don’t be surprised if this was a JSOC AGM-114R9X strike. 

U.S. official tells Reuters the reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the Islamic State target while he was in a car with another Islamic State associate. Both are believed to have been killed.

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) August 28, 2021

Looks like this may have not been the planner of the airport bombing, but was setting up future attacks:

U.S. Reaper drone flew to Afghanistan from a base in the Middle East a few hours ago to kill the ISIS-K 'planner' who was plotting 'future attacks' on U.S. forces in Kabul. The ISIS-K planner was killed while driving in a vehicle along with an 'associate,' official says.

— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) August 28, 2021

The strike also roughly coincides time-wise with yet another warning about the possibility of an impending terror attack on Hamid Karzai Airport from the State Department: 

#Afghanistan: Due to security threats at the airport, we continue to advise U.S. citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates. Those at Abbey gate, East gate, North gate or New Ministry of Interior gate should leave immediately. https://t.co/RwXJAlj4Fr pic.twitter.com/cJtOGk5AR2

— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) August 28, 2021

We will continue to update this post as more information comes available. 

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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Tyler Rogoway

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Tyler’s passion is the study of military technology, strategy, and foreign policy and he has fostered a dominant voice on those topics in the defense media space. He was the creator of the hugely popular defense site Foxtrot Alpha before developing The War Zone.