CNN interviewed top ISIS-K commander who made brazen threat two weeks before terror attack at Kabul airport



Two weeks before ISIS-K launched an attack outside the Kabul airport, CNN's chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, spoke with a senior ISIS-K commander who allegedly promised to "restart operations" after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

Tragically, that threat became reality on Thursday when ISIS-K launched an attack outside the Kabul airport where evacuation operations were ongoing. That attack killed 13 United States service members and more than 160 Afghanistan civilians.

What are the details?

The interview was conducted just days before Kabul fell to the Taliban several weeks ago. According to Ward, ISIS-K was already in the city, "lying low and waiting for its moment to strike — words that turned out to be eerily prophetic."

The commander, whose real identity was masked but was called Abdul Munir, is from Kunar Province in east Afghanistan, which borders Pakistan. Speaking with Ward from a Kabul hotel, the commander said he and his men used to fight for the Taliban, but joined the Islamic State because they believed the Taliban was not implementing pure Sharia law.

The commander explained ISIS-K was exploiting the Taliban's swift takeover of Afghanistan by engaging in a large-scale recruitment drive, and promised to "restart operations" once the takeover was complete.

"That moment has now come, as the world saw all too clearly on Thursday," Ward said in the video.

Now that ISIS-K "operations" have been restarted, Ward explained the goal of ISIS-K is to "undermine" the Taliban. By launching attacks, the terrorist group is doing just that, eroding the allusion that a Taliban government can guarantee security.

Anything else?

The U.S. military conducted a strike on Friday against the ISIS-K terrorist purportedly responsible for planning the attack outside the Kabul airport.

"U.S. military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation today against an ISIS-K planner," U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Bill Urban, USN, said in a statement. "The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties."

Shockingly, State Department spokesman John Kirby admitted Friday the Taliban released "thousands" of ISIS-K terrorist from Afghanistan prisons.

During a press briefing, Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin asked, "How many ISIS-K prisoners were left at Bagram and believed to have been released from the prison there and why weren't they removed before the U.S. pulled out to some place like Gitmo?"

"Well, I don't know the exact number. Clearly, it's in the thousands when you considered both prisons," Kirby responded. "Because both of them were taken over by the Taliban and emptied."

CNN reporter slams Biden's disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal with the perfect description



CNN reporter Clarissa Ward, the network's chief foreign correspondent, chose the consummate word to describe President Joe Biden's disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal as she waited to depart Kabul on Friday.

What did Ward say?

While waiting inside the Kabul airport compound for her flight to Qatar, Ward — who had become the face of on-the-ground reporting from Kabul since the Taliban overtook the city — succinctly described Biden's withdrawal as an utter "failure."

"These kids behind me, sleeping on the gravel on a piece of cardboard box, are the lucky ones because there are many others, thousands of them, just outside the perimeter," Ward began. "I saw with my own eyes the Taliban fighters beating them, mothers throwing their babies trying to get them inside the airport compound.

"It is just a picture of desperation– of failure, as well, failure to protect our allies, failure to plan for this eventuality," she proclaimed.

Ward explained there is "a lot of bitterness" among people in Kabul that "every eventuality was not planned for, that evacuations did not begin earlier."

"Seeing these scenes, seeing this heartache, seeing this desperation, and seeing this chaos," Ward continued, "you have to ask yourself: 'Surely there was a better way, surely there was a better way.'"

CNN Reporter On Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal: “Failure To Protect Our Allies, Failure To Plan” www.youtube.com

Prior to departing Afghanistan, Ward directly contradicted Biden's claim that Americans trapped in Afghanistan were not experiencing difficulty reaching the Kabul airport.

"Working out how to get into this airport is like a Rubix cube," Ward said. "It's very difficult. It's very difficult. It's not a simple process at all."

"Technically, it's possible, but it's extremely difficult — and it is dangerous," Ward added.

Anything else?

Ward and her CNN team landed safety in Doha, Qatar, shortly before midnight EST on Saturday.

"Just landed in Doha with the team and nearly 300 Afghan evacuees. Huge thanks to all of you for your support and concern, to the US Air Force for flying us out and to Qatar for welcoming us. We are the lucky ones," Ward said.