The Taliban have killed the senior Islamic State group leader behind the August 2021 suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport that left 13 US service members and about 170 Afghans dead, according to the father of a Marine killed in the attack who was briefed Tuesday by military officials .
Over the weekend, the US military began to inform families of the 11 Marines, the sailor and the soldier killed in the blast at Abbey Gate during the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The account from the families was confirmed by three US officials and a senior congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that had not yet been made public.The IS leader, whose identity has not yet been released, was killed in southern Afghanistan in early April as the Taliban conducted a series of operations against the Islamic State group, according to one of the officials. The Taliban at the time were not aware of the identity of the person they killed, the official added. 
Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, said the Marines provided only limited information to him Tuesday and did not identify the Islamic State leader or give the circumstances of his death.Hoover is among a group of 12 Gold Star families that have kept in touch since the bombing, supporting one another and sharing information through the messaging chat. The chat was created by Cheryl Rex, the mother of Marine Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola, who died in the blast.
