The US military says it believes it has killed a planner for a branch of the Islamic State (IS) group in a drone strike in eastern Afghanistan.
The suspected member of the IS-K group was targeted in Nangahar Province. IS-K said it had carried out an attack outside Kabul airport on Thursday that may have killed as many as 170 people, including 13 US troops.
A mass airlift has been under way at the airport since Taliban militants overran the capital this month.
In the past two weeks, more than 100,000 people are believed to have been evacuated, with the deadline set by the US for its forces to leave Afghanistan expiring on Tuesday.
President Joe Biden promised on Friday to hunt down the jihadists behind Thursday’s suicide bombing.
IS-K, or Islamic State Khorasan Province, is the most extreme and violent of all the jihadist militant groups in Afghanistan.
The blast tore through crowds of men, women and children outside Kabul airport. Dozens of Afghans trying to leave the country were killed. In addition to the US personnel killed, two British nationals and the child of a British national were among the dead.
“We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Mr Biden warned the perpetrators on Friday. He said another attack in Kabul was likely in the coming days.
Roughly 5,000 US troops are still stationed at Kabul airport, processing Afghans desperate to leave.
“We are providing swift passage to every foreigner to leave Afghanistan in the next 48 hours,” an unnamed Western official told Reuters news agency.
Taliban officials say they have taken control of parts of the airport but the US says its forces are still in charge.
The US said “initial indications” suggested no civilians had been killed in the drone attack, the first reported in Afghanistan since Thursday’s blast.
“The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target,” said Captain Bill Urban of Central Command. “We know of no civilian casualties.”
American officials have issued a new warning to US citizens to stay away from the airport’s gates in case of further attacks.
