On 26 August 2021, an ISIL-K suicide bomber attacked the Kabul airport, killing over 170 people, including 28 Taliban members and 13 US military personnel. Amidst the Taliban advance on Kabul in preceding weeks, hundreds to thousands of ISIL-K prisoners had been released or otherwise escaped from detention, leading to U.S. fears of attacks on the airport and future targets. After the attack, the Taliban announced that they would curtail the operations of ISIS-K and capture its leader Shahab al-Muhajir.