Islamic State head in Afghanistan killed in drone strike
Nangarhar is one of the provinces where Islamic State militants are most active.
(Web Desk / Reuters) - Hafiz Saeed Khan, head of the Islamic State (IS) branch in Afghanistan, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan`s eastern Nangarhar province, Tolo News reported on Saturday.
According to the Afghan intelligence agency, Saeed was killed along with 30 others in the air strike in Achin district of Nangarhar.
This was the third and the biggest attack against IS, also known as Daesh, in less than a week after Gull Zaman, the group s number 2 in Afghanistan, was killed along with his deputy, Jahanyar, in a drone strike in the same district.
Shahidullah Shahid, a former spokesperson of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) who pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State and was operating in Afghanistan, was also killed along with five militants on Tuesday.
Bordering lawless areas inside Pakistan, Nangarhar is one of the provinces where Islamic State militants are most active.
IS loyalists, mostly former Taliban disillusioned by the movement s unsuccessful bid to return to power in Kabul, are often accompanied by dozens of foreign foreigners, hoisting black flags in several districts in the province.
A small but increasing number of mostly ex-Taliban militants are pledging allegiance to the IS in Afghanistan, making them a target of deadly strikes there by the U.S. unmanned aircraft.
