SENIOR ISIL FIGURE RESPONSIBLE FOR KABUL AIRPORT BOMBING KILLED BY TALIBAN

Wed 26 Apr 2023:

Taliban fighters have executed the top ISIL (ISIS) group leader behind the deadly suicide bombing outside Kabul airport in August 2021, according to the father of a US Marine killed in the attack, who was informed by military sources on Tuesday, Associated Press reported.

During the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, a bomb at the Abbey Gate entrance of Hamid Karzai International Airport killed around 170 Afghans and 13 US military members.

Over the weekend, the US military began to inform the families of the 11 Marines, the sailor and the soldier who died in the attack that the ISIL (ISIS) leader had been killed. Those family members then shared the information in a private group messaging chat, according to the mother of another Marine.

The account from the families to The Associated Press news agency was confirmed by three US officials and a senior congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that had not yet been made public.

The ISIL (ISIS) leader, whose identity has not yet been released, was killed in southern Afghanistan in early April as the Taliban conducted a series of operations against the group, according to one of the officials.

The Taliban fighters at the time were not aware of the identity of the person they killed, the official added.

Hoover is among a group of 12 Gold Star families — families that have lost someone serving in the US armed forces — that have kept in touch since the bombing, supporting one another and sharing information through the messaging chat.

The chat was created by Cheryl Rex, the mother of Marine Lance Corporal Dylan Merola, who died in the blast.

His son and the other fallen service members were among those screening the thousands of Afghans frantically trying to board one of the crowded flights out of the country on August 26, 2021, after the Taliban takeover.

The scene of desperation quickly turned into one of horror when a suicide bomber attacked. The ISIL (ISIS) group claimed responsibility.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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