US airstrike targets Islamic State in Afghanistan after deadly Kabul blasts that killed 13 military personnel

The United States launched a drone strike against an Islamic State attack planner in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, the military said, a day after a suicide bombing at Kabul airport killed 13 US troops and scores of Afghan civilians.

President Joe Biden vowed on Thursday that the United States would hunt down those responsible for the attack, and said he had ordered the Pentagon to come up with plans to strike at the perpetrators.

US Central Command said the strike took place in Nangahar province, east of Kabul. It did not say whether the target was connected with the airport attack.

"Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties," a US military statement said.

Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), an affiliate of militants who previously battled US forces in Syria and Iraq, said it had carried out Thursday's attack, which killed dozens of people - including Afghans who were trying to leave the country.

In addition to the 13 US troops killed, 18 injured were flown to Germany.

There are roughly 5,000 US troops at Kabul's airport, helping to evacuate American citizens, at-risk Afghans and other nationalities before Biden's Tuesday deadline.

Thursday's attack marked the first US military casualties in Afghanistan since February 2020 and represented the deadliest incident for American troops there in a decade.

"We will not forgive, we will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," Biden said Biden shedding support from independent voters as Delta variant spreads in remarks at the White House on Thursday.

He appeared to be fighting back tears and his voice cracked with emotion as he talked about the American "heroes" who died. He ordered flags at the White House and public buildings around the country to be lowered to half-staff.

Biden defended the handling of his most serious foreign policy crisis, saying ultimately it is his responsibility while assigning some blame to his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, for the 2020 agreement Trump negotiated with the Taliban.