This archive report was first published on 28 August 2021.
As the US airlift of those desperate to flee Afghanistan enters its final stages, the US military has conducted a drone strike against an Islamic State target in the country.
On Saturday, the US Central Command announced that it had carried out a drone attack on a 'planner' from the Islamic State group in eastern Afghanistan.
Initial indications are that we killed the target, said Captain Bill Urban of the Central Command.
The drone strike comes as the US and its allies are racing to meet a Tuesday deadline for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, with over 5,000 people remaining inside Kabul airport awaiting evacuation.
US forces overseeing the evacuation have been forced into closer security cooperation with the Taliban to prevent any repeat of a suicide bombing that killed scores of civilians crowded around one of the airport's main access gates and 13 American troops.
With the airlift window narrowing sharply ahead of an August 31 deadline, the United States has issued a fresh alert for US citizens to leave areas around the main gates 'immediately'.
President Joe Biden has pledged to stick to the airlift deadline and to punish those responsible for the suicide blast.
According to the US government, about 109,000 people have been flown out of the country since August 14, the day before the Taliban swept to power.
Some Western allies, including Britain and Spain, have announced an end to their airlifts, following other nations such as Canada and Australia earlier in the week.
The United Nations has warned of a 'worst-case scenario' of up to half a million more refugees from Afghanistan by the end of 2021.
The Taliban have promised a softer brand of rule compared with their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001, but many Afghans fear a repeat of their brutal interpretation of Islamic law.
