The airport has been the scene of a massive airlift by US and allied forces evacuating its citizens and Afghans desperate to leave the country since the Taliban took control two weeks ago.
Authorities said the targeted attack targeted militants from the local IS affiliate, which is an enemy of both the West and the Taliban movement, took the capital on August 15 after a lightning offensive.
A US official said he was executed by a drone flown from outside Afghanistan, and that secondary explosions that followed the attack showed the target was carrying a substantial amount of explosives. Television footage showed black smoke rising into the sky.
US officials had said they were especially concerned about an attack on the airport as their troops depart, particularly the threat of vehicle-borne rockets and explosives.
The drone attack occurred while civilians were still waiting at the airport to fly out before the last troops leave, a Western security official told Reuters. A US official told Reuters on Saturday that fewer than 4,000 troops remained.
The attack came in parallel with an explosion in the Afghan capital’s 15th police district, also near the airport, killing at least five civilians. According to the Taliban, a rocket fired from an unknown location hit “a house in a residential area on PD-15, near Kabul airport.”
President Joe Biden has said he will meet his deadline for withdrawing all US troops from Afghanistan by Tuesday. On Saturday, he indicated that his military leaders had told him that another attack by Islamic militants is highly likely.