Islamabad, Jul 11 (PTI) The chief of Islamic State (IS) in Af-Pak region has been killed in a USA drone strike in eastern Afghanistan, dealing a major blow to the militant group whose another top leader died in a similar air raid three days ago.
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“IS [Daesh] leader for Afghanistan and Pakistan (Khurasan state), Hafiz Sayed and 30 of his fighters were killed in a U.S.-led coalition force’s drone strike in Achin, Nangarhar”, the statement said.
Saeed was killed in the strike in Achin in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province on Friday night, it said.
Afghan soldiers inspect travelers last month at a checkpoint in Jalalabad province, where fighters loyal to the Islamic State had seized substantial territory from rival Taliban insurgents for the first time, witnesses and officials said.
There has been no independent confirmation of his death.
The US military has expressed concern about the budding Islamic State presence in Afghanistan – still struggling to quell the Taliban’s insurgency – and is using its remaining military force in the country to prevent IS from turning into the powerful force that emerged after the American withdrawal from Iraq.
Another IS militant commander, Mullah Abdul Rauf, was reported killed in a drone strike in February.
Khan, who is Pakistani, is one of a small number of ex- Taliban militants who switched their allegiance to the terror network. At least five other ISIS members were killed in the same strike.
Veteran Pakistani security analyst, Hasan Askari Rizvi, is optimistic about Pakistan’s involvement and told the Guardian that “the fact talks are being held in Islamabad will enable [Ghani] to say the Pakistanis are trying to help” during a time when the Afghanistan bureaucracy and parliament are all against Pakistan.
Sediqi, the National Directorate of Security spokesman, said Afghan officials had created a special intelligence unit to target the Isis affiliate and its work directly aided the United States airstrikes.
Previous attempts to engage Kabul and Taliban in negotiations have fallen flat, including the opening of a Taliban office in Qatar in 2013 which was shut down after ex- Afghan President Hamid Karzai sharply criticized the move, arguing that Kabul would only engage in inter-Afghan talks.
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Quoting a press statement issued in Beijing, he said his country fully supports the Government and Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan talks held in Pakistan.
