Drone Strike Against ISIS-K Killed 2 High-Profile Targets, Pentagon Says

Two targets were killed and another person was injured in a drone strike against the Islamic State affiliate ISIS-K in retaliation for the Kabul airport attack, the Pentagon now says. And the Department of Defense has released the names of the U.S. troops killed in Thursday's attack.

Department officials announced Friday evening that a drone strike killed an ISIS-K target in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. On Saturday, officials updated that to say that two "high-profile" targets — described as "a planner and a facilitator" — were killed and one other person from the terrorist group was injured in the retaliatory strike.

Pentagon officials offered more information Saturday about continued operations in Afghanistan, including evacuation efforts and the drone strike.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the names of the drone strike targets would not be released.

"The fact that two of these individuals are no longer walking on the face of the earth, that's a good thing," Kirby said of the drone strike. "It's a good thing for the people of Afghanistan and it's a good thing for our troops and our forces at that airfield."

U.S. officials have said that threats continue at the Kabul airport following Thursday's bombing, which killed nearly 200 people, including 13 U.S. service members. That incident has intensified already frantic operations aimed at evacuating Afghans and withdrawing U.S. troops ahead of an Aug. 31 deadline imposed by President Biden.