Biden promised ISIS-K will ‘pay.’ Having no US troops in Afghanistan makes that harder

Washington CNN — As the Biden administration grapples with the challenge of carrying out counterterrorism missions in Afghanistan without US boots on the ground, CNN has learned new details about last Sunday’s drone strike on suspected ISIS-K fighters in Kabul that some officials say provide insight into the obstacles ahead for military and intelligence officials tasked with fulfilling President Joe Biden’s promise to make the terror group “pay” for its deadly suicide attack in Kabul. Milley said that “at least one” of those killed was an ISIS-K facilitator and multiple sources told CNN that the strike was necessary to prevent an “imminent” threat to US troops helping evacuate thousands of Americans and Afghan refugees from Kabul amid the Taliban takeover of the country. The US also did not receive any usable intelligence from the Taliban, this person said, as the Pentagon and intelligence agencies conducted counterterrorism operations on the ground in Kabul to try to thwart potential attacks by ISIS-K. ‘A fool’s errand’ The deal struck between former President Donald Trump’s administration and the Taliban in February 2020 required that in exchange for a US withdrawal, the Taliban would sever ties with al Qaeda and work to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for it and other terrorist groups like ISIS-K to launch attacks against the United States. “We know already al Qaeda forces are essentially embedded with the Taliban and they were during the 20 years they were in exile,” President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton told CNN.