Afghanistan: Taliban kills mastermind of Kabul airport bombing

While the Biden administration boasts of its “moral responsibility” to inform the families of the 13 American troops who were killed in the Kabul blast about the death of the mastermind in the bombing, the administration’s catastrophic debacle in leaving  Afghanistan is legendary. To this day, Americans remain stranded in Afghanistan, many of whom are still being held captive by the Taliban.

U.S. intelligence confirmed “with high confidence” that the Islamic State leader had been killed, but America under the Biden administration hardly engenders any confidence at all. The devastation of the lives lost in Afghanistan is highlighted by the father of Marine Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, who stated that he and his wife “have spent the past year and a half grieving his death and praying for accountability from the Biden administration for the handling of the withdrawal.” Sadly, the families of those who were killed will likely never get answers and never see accountability. Neither with the families who still have loved ones stranded and held captive in Afghanistan.

Just last month, the Taliban was showing off 300 military vehicles left behind by America. The only “good” news is that these deadly jihadist groups, ISIS-K and the Taliban, are fighting each other.

America and other Western countries are deficient contending with the jihad abroad (and domestically). France recently withdrew from Mali, in what was described as an abandonment and failure. Nothing, however, compares with the Biden administration, which not only double-crossed Afghans, but abandoned Americans, while leaving the Taliban with billions of dollars in state-of-the-art American military equipment, for which American taxpayers footed the bill.

“Taliban kill mastermind of suicide bombing at Kabul airport,” by Farnoush Amiri, Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani and Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, April 26, 2023:

WASHINGTON – A ground assault by the Taliban killed the Islamic State militant who spearheaded the August 2021 suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that left 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Initially, neither the U.S. — nor apparently the Taliban — were aware that the mastermind was dead. He was killed during a series of battles early this month in southern Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Islamic State group’s affiliate, according to several officials.

But in the past few days, U.S. intelligence confirmed “with high confidence” that the Islamic State leader had been killed, a senior administration official said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

Late Tuesday night, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder issued a statement confirming that the plotter had been killed by the Taliban. “The United States was not involved in this operation,” Ryder said.

Over the weekend, the U.S. military began to inform the parents of the 11 Marines, the sailor and the soldier who were killed in the blast at Abbey Gate, and they shared the information in a private group messaging chat. The father of one of the Marines said the death of his son’s killer brings little comfort.

“Whatever happens, it’s not going to bring Taylor back and I understand that,” Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, said in a phone call with The Associated Press. “About the only thing his mom and I can do now is be an advocate for him. All we want is the truth. And we’re not getting it. That’s the frustrating part.”

Hoover said he and his son’s mother, Kelly Henson, have spent the past year and a half grieving his death and praying for accountability from the Biden administration for the handling of the withdrawal.

He added that the Marines provided only limited information to him and did not identify the Islamic State leader or give the circumstances of his death. U.S. officials declined to provide many details because of sensitivities in the intelligence gathering.

The administration official said it was their “moral responsibility” to let the victims’ families know that the “mastermind” and “person most responsible for the airport attack” had been taken off the battlefield. The official added that intelligence officials determined that the leader had “remained a key plotter and overseer” for the group…….