The U.S. has launched a drone strike on a vehicle that was carrying "multiple suicide bombers" from ISIS' (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) Afghanistan affiliate, AP News reported American officials as saying.

This was carried out before the terrorist group could launch an attack on the ongoing evacuation at Kabul's international airport.

The strike took place on Aug. 29, with at least three children killed in the strike, according to an Afghan official.

In addition, CNN reported that nine members of a family were killed in the strike, with at least six of the casualties being children and the youngest aged two years old.

What happened during the drone strike?

Speaking to AP News, an anonymous senior U.S. official said that the drone had fired a Hellfire missile at a vehicle between two buildings after people were seen loading explosives into the trunk.

This led to an initial explosion caused by the missile, which was followed by a much larger fireball that was believed to be the result of the huge amounts of explosives present in the vehicle.

The official added that the secondary explosion also did "significant" damage to one of the buildings beside the vehicle.

Drone's destruction of vehicle could have led to more explosions

In a statement, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said that it was aware of reports about civilian casualties and highlighted that "substantial and powerful subsequent explosions" could have resulted from the vehicle's destruction, potentially leading to more casualties.

In adding that CENTCOM was still assessing the results of the strike and would be saddened by the "potential loss" of any innocent life, the command centre said, "It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further."

The strike is the second of its kind launched in the wake of a suicide attack launched by ISIS on crowds attempting to enter Kabul airport on Aug. 26, which killed 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. military personnel.

The first drone strike was carried out on Aug. 28 in Afghanistan's Nangahar province, killing two ISIS members, CNBC News reported.

At that time, no civilian casualties were reported.

Taliban condemns U.S. drone attacks in statement to Chinese state media

Separately, one of the Taliban spokesmen, Zabihullah Mujahid, condemned the drone strikes as "arbitrary attacks."

Speaking to the English language arm of Chinese state media, CGTN, he said, "We condemn such attacks because it is illegal to carry out arbitrary attacks in other countries. If there was any potential threat, it should have been reported to us, not an arbitrary attack that has resulted in civilian casualties."

He was echoed by a member of the Taliban's political office, Abdulhaq Wasiq, who was quoted by Afghan media Tolo News as stating, "We have signed an agreement with Americans in Doha regarding this and the attack is against the agreement. Based on the agreement, they are not allowed to interfere in Afghanistan affairs after their withdrawal."

Wasiq added, "The world made Daesh (ISIS) important. Daesh will not last in Afghanistan."

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