Nine members of the same family, including six children, have been confirmed killed in a US drone attack targeting the ISIL-affiliated State in Khorasan Province (IS-K), members in Kabul on Sunday.
According to Red Cross official who has been helping injured civilians in the war-torn Afghanistan, the US drone attack destroyed a car laden with explosives near the international airport in Kabul.
The United States’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said it was aware of “reports of civilian casualties” following the drone attack, which it said hit “multiple suicide bombers” who were preparing to attack the ongoing evacuations at the Kabul airport.
The Command added that it was still “assessing the results of the attack, which we know disrupted an imminent ISIS-K threat to the airport.”
Sunday’s attack was the second by US forces in Afghanistan since the Kabul Airport bombings last week where over 175 people, including 13 US troops, lost their lives.
The IS-K had claimed responsibility for the attack, leading to President Joe Biden vowing to hunt down the assailants and taking them out.
A senior US official said Sunday’s attack came after “individuals were seen loading explosives into the boot of a vehicle parked in a residential compound near Kabul airport.”
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said two IS-K members who were targeted were killed in the drone attack.
Nine family members killed in US strike in Kabul, relative says