Taliban kills IS leader behind 2021 Kabul airport bombing

Washington, April 26

Senior Islamic State leader, who was allegedly behind the 2021 bombing at Kabul airport in Afghanistan, has been killed by the Taliban, US officials have said.

The August 2021 bombing at the Abbey Gate entrance of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul killed 170 civilians and 13 US troops as people were trying to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

US officials told CBS News that the leader died weeks ago, but it took time to confirm his death, the BBC reported.

The identity of the IS leader has not been released yet.

US officials said they determined through intelligence gathering and monitoring of the region that the leader had died, though they did not provide further details on how they learned that he was responsible for the bombing, the British news broadcaster reported.

According to a report in the New York Times, the US learned of the leader's death in early April. It is unclear whether he was targeted by the Taliban or if he was killed during ongoing fighting between IS and the Taliban, the newspaper reported.

On Monday, the US began notifying families of the deceased troops about the death of the IS leader.

Darin Hoover, father of Marine Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover who died in the blast, confirmed to CBS that he had been notified of the news by the Marine Corps.

"They could not tell me any details of the operation, but they did state that their sources are highly trusted, and they've got it from several different sources that this individual was indeed killed," Hoover said in an interview on Tuesday.