The Islamic State group said Friday it was behind a roadside bomb that injured 13 in the Pakistani city of Quetta, the SITE Intelligence Group said, days after a major attack in the city killed 73.
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If true, the death of Hafiz Saeed Khan would strike a blow to efforts by IS to expand its control over territory and its jihadi brand into Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The fatal strike follows the killing of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a U.S. drone attack in Pakistan in May. However, Afghanistan’s 15-year-old war grinds on with no clear victory in sight.
“All crew members were handed over to Pakistani in Kurram tribal region”, an official said.
Taliban fighters have been threatening at least two provincial capitals this (northern) summer, in Helmand and Kunduz, and a USA government report said Afghan forces had lost five per cent of territory this year.
Some are anxious regarding the legitimacy of Khan actually being dead, as last January he was reported to have been killed in a drone strike. Pakistan denies these claims.
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Hafiz Saeed was not the only Islamic State militant to lose their life in this most recent airstrike; Omar Zakhilwal, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan, gave a statement to Reuters in which she confirmed other extremists had also been killed. Late last month, the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, Army Gen. John Nicholson, told reporters that five U.S. Special Operations troops had been wounded alongside their Afghan counterparts while clearing parts of Nangarhar Province.
