BREAKING -- a U.S. drone strike has targeted #ISIS-K operatives in eastern #Afghanistan.
via @idreesali114
via @idreesali114
@idreesali114 The U.S. strike today targeted #ISIS-K in #Afghanistan's #Nangarhar province
Earlier, unnamed IC officials had said explosive devices & other materials had been sent by #ISIS from #Nangarhar to #Kabul in recent days.
Earlier, unnamed IC officials had said explosive devices & other materials had been sent by #ISIS from #Nangarhar to #Kabul in recent days.
@idreesali114 Earlier today, the #Taliban was reported to have engaged in clashes with #ISIS-K cells in #Nangarhar's Dara-i-Noor district.
The #Taliban-#ISIS conflict has been centered in #Nangarhar & neighboring #Kunar provinces.
The #Taliban-#ISIS conflict has been centered in #Nangarhar & neighboring #Kunar provinces.
The DOD says the drone strike hit “an” #ISIS planner — no indication of any link to the #Kabul airport attack.
Given strained intro resources, this sounds to me more like a target of known opportunity than a directed response to the #Kabul attack.
Given strained intro resources, this sounds to me more like a target of known opportunity than a directed response to the #Kabul attack.
NEW -- According to @glubold & @wstrobel, yesterday's strike in #Afghanistan utilized an R9X "flying ginsu" Hellfire -- an inert missile that deploys 6 blades prior to impact.
As with all R9X strikes in #Idlib, #Syria, it targeted a vehicle:
wsj.com/articles/u-s-u…
As with all R9X strikes in #Idlib, #Syria, it targeted a vehicle:
wsj.com/articles/u-s-u…
@glubold @wstrobel Intriguingly though, the vehicle is burnt to cinders & the surrounding area is pocketed with shrapnel damage.
That's not like scenes from R9X hits in #Syria at all, where vehicles have remained far more intact & the surrounding area almost entirely untouched -- x4 examples here:
That's not like scenes from R9X hits in #Syria at all, where vehicles have remained far more intact & the surrounding area almost entirely untouched -- x4 examples here:
@glubold @wstrobel Descriptions of the U.S. strike claim it targeted 2 #ISIS operatives in a vehicle, killing them both -- but a civilian in a nearby building was injured.
Having looked closely into R9X use in #Syria, that latter detail raises some Qs in my mind -- along with the @WSJ footage.
Having looked closely into R9X use in #Syria, that latter detail raises some Qs in my mind -- along with the @WSJ footage.
It seems my initial skepticism about the R9X claim from #Afghanistan is shared by others who’ve looked closely at its use elsewhere — see this good thread from @N_Waters89:
https://twitter.com/n_waters89/status/1431902129061605382
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