- The Washington Times - Sunday, August 29, 2021

A U.S. airstrike on Sunday morning took out a suicide bomber driving a car filled with explosives toward the Kabul airport, Taliban officials claimed.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters in the region that the U.S. strike thwarted an apparent terrorist attack on the airport, which is the epicenter of a massive airlift out of Afghanistan.

That U.S.-led effort is winding down and will be completed by President Biden’s self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline.

Details around the reported airstrike were scarce Sunday morning.

There were also separate reports of an apparent rocket explosion in Kabul.

The reported U.S. airstrike comes just days after an attack by the terrorist group ISIS-K on the Kabul airport. The assault killed 13 U.S. service members and wounded at least 18 others. About 160 Afghans also died in the attack.

In response, U.S. drones on Friday night hit ISIS-K targets in eastern Afghanistan. The drone strike killed at least two ISIS-K planners, Pentagon officials said.

The Biden administration has warned that additional terrorist attacks on the Kabul airport are likely during the final hours of the withdrawal.

• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

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