The U.S. launched a drone strike on Sunday targeting a vehicle that presented an "imminent ISIS-K threat" to Kabul’s international airport, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
Driving the news: "We are confident we successfully hit the target," Centcom said in the statement, adding: "Significant secondary explosions from the vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material. We are assessing the possibilities of civilian casualties, though we have no indications at this time."
The big picture: The U.S. Embassy in Kabul released an alert late Saturday that Americans should "immediately" leave the airport area due to "a specific, credible threat."
- President Biden said on Saturday that U.S. commanders in Afghanistan told him earlier in the day that the threat of another terrorist attack near Kabul's airport was "highly likely in the next 24-36 hours."
- Taliban security forces closed off Kabul’s airport to most Afghans seeking to evacuate Saturday, as the U.S. and its allies were wrapping up a "chaotic airlift," per AP.
- The Sunday drone strike comes after the U.S. said it killed two ISIS-K targets on Friday night in response to the Kabul airport bombing, which killed as many as 170 people, in addition to 13 U.S. service members.