The leader of Islamic State’s branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan was killed in a USA drone strike on July 26, a Pentagon spokesman said on Friday after the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan announced the news to Reuters.
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The Islamic State in Afghanistan is a relatively new phenomenon, gaining traction in the war-torn country over the last two years.
The death of Hafiz Saeed Khan is a blow to efforts by Islamic State – also known as ISIS or Daesh – to expand from its heartlands in Syria and Iraq into Afghanistan and Pakistan, already crowded with jihadist movements including the Taliban and al Qaeda. Late last month, the top USA general in Afghanistan, Army Gen. John Nicholson, told reporters that five US special operation troops had been wounded alongside their Afghan counterparts while clearing parts of Nangharar Province. [Photo by Iraq Counterterrorism Service/AP Images] The terrorist organization has denied the USA reports of their leader’s death and has insisted that he survived the attack.
“Khan was known to directly participate in attacks against USA and coalition forces, and the actions of his network terrorized Afghans, especially in Nangarhar”, Pentagon spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said in a written press release. Pentagon spokesperson Trowbridge later confirmed the news, but corrected that the target was taken down in the Achin district, instead of Kot.
Pakistan says it has been a victim of terrorism, much of it from groups based in Afghanistan, for years. Roughly a week later, the Islamic State posted pictures of captured USA equipment and identification cards from a US soldier who had been involved in the operations.
Khan – a longtime commander with the Pakistani Taliban – pledged allegiance in October 2014 to Islamic State’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Afghan authorities erroneously believed Saeed had been killed in another strike in July 2015, when a U.S. drone targeted dozens of IS-linked cadres in restive Nangarhar province, close to the Pakistani border.
Saeed Khan was erroneously declared dead by Afghan authorities in July a year ago. Most NATO combat troops who had been fighting the Taliban and other insurgent groups have now left Afghanistan, with responsibility for the country’s security now in the hands of local forces.
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Obama authorizes drone strike in January.
