The United States government had no involvement in the Taliban operation that led to the death of a terrorist leader who masterminded the August 2021 bombing which killed 13 US soldiers at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, the White House has said.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on Wednesday said the US became aware of the operation through the “over-the-horizon capabilities” which administration officials have cited as reason to not need an American military presence in Afghanistan to deal with terrorist threats.
“When we talk about over-the-horizon capabilities, it's also about being able to see things, to know things, to monitor things,” he said.
Mr Kirby said the death of the terrorist leader, whose name has not been revealed by US officials, is a “good thing for everybody,” including the families of the 13 US service members who died in the bombing, which took place as the US was evacuating from Afghanistan after two decades of war.
“It does, in fact, prove that you don't need boots on the ground. You don't need to remain in a particular field of battle to be able to go after the terrorists. We said that we'd be able to continue to defend ourselves from terrorist threats in Afghanistan and beyond,” he said, adding that last year’s airstrike against al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri proved that US capabilities in the region haven’t been negatively impacted by the withdrawal.
But he also repeatedly stressed that the US “didn’t have anything to do with” the Taliban operation, which he described as part of a long-running conflict between “mortal enemies”.
“They hate one another. They continue to attack one another. And the Taliban continues to conduct operations against Isis, and one less Isis leader walking the face of the earth is something I think we can all feel good about,” he said. And this shows that we don't mean to always have significant presence on the ground in order to be able to to enjoy that particular outcome”.
