The attack at the Kabul Airport, even as desperate Afghans were trying to leave, is as tragic as it was apparently expected. The blast killed at least 13 US service members and a number of civilians. The death toll has crossed 170, and over 200 people were wounded. An emotional President Joe Biden promised vengeance, and apparently it was swift. The US announced a drone strike against an Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) ‘planner’ in Nangarhar, in the early hours of August 28. That is an area controlled largely by the Haqqani network, together with a sprinkling of cadres of the Islamic State of Khorasan ( IS-K). The trouble is there are no lines between them.
The twin attacks by suicide bombers, together with a random firing by a terrorist, took place at the airport and the nearby Baron Hotel. The attack seemed to be aimed at hitting Afghans milling around at that point, with the attackers having a surprisingly free run into the area, despite the Taliban significantly strengthening control and access to the airport, according to the Pentagon. The US forces had been warning of an impending attack by the IS-K and were hurrying out of the country with Taliban assistance. Never mind the irony of a superpower being escorted out by the very force it was ostensibly trying to evict; what’s interesting is where that intelligence came from, and why the IS-K would want to attack a power that is leaving behind an entire country for it to establish a base in