IS attacks resurge in Kabul after Taliban takes control

After years of being silenced in the war-battered Afghanistan, the Islamic State (IS) group launched a deadly attack on the fortified Kabul airport Thursday, leaving at least 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. soldiers dead and about 200 others wounded, reported Xinhua.

The bloody attack, claimed by ISIS-K, a local affiliate of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan, has taken many by surprise and the armed extremist group has warned of more attacks after completion of the pull-out of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan.

The attack on the Kabul airport has been faced by the U.S. military's sharp reaction as it launched drone strikes in the eastern Nangarhar province, killing an alleged attack planner of the terror group.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has confirmed the incident in Nangarhar, saying two civilians were killed and four others including two children were injured in the unmanned plane attacks.

The attack on the alleged IS hideout in Afghanistan has been termed by the Taliban as breach of the U.S.-Taliban peace deal inked in Doha.

"The airstrike inside Afghanistan is a violation of Doha agreement and America does not have the right to conduct operations in Afghanistan soil," a Taliban senior leader Abdul Haq Waseq was quoted by a local media outlet Tolo News as saying.

Mujahid also said that the U.S. had to share its intention for attack before launching it.

In the meantime, Kabul has been the scene of more violent attacks in recent days.

Five rockets were fired early Monday at Kabul airport in the Afghan capital, where the evacuation of U.S.-led troops is underway, witnesses said.

"The rockets attached to a sedan were fired towards the airport from Khair Khana Minia locality. It looked to me that the U.S. missile system intercepted the rockets," witness Sayyad Mohammad told Xinhua.

Evacuation flights continued as the U.S. troops were at the final stage of their withdrawal from Afghanistan. The pull-out is expected to be completed on Tuesday.

U.S. unmanned planes have been flying over Kabul since Sunday.

Afghans fear that the IS fighters would conduct more attacks in the coming days or weeks to prove its presence in Afghanistan.

The ISIS-K emerged in Afghanistan in 2015.