Mr Sediqi offered no photographs or other evidence to show the strikes killed the IS affiliate’s top leaders, though he said Afghan authorities verified that a corpse from Friday’s strike was Sayeed. However, the rise of even a small Isis affiliate could further destabilise the region and complicate United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation efforts to end the 13-year Afghan war.
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“Hafiz Saeed was killed in a gathering in an area where they were making plans”, Sediqqi said, adding that the agency’s operatives provided US commanders with the intelligence to launch the airstrike.
The leader of ISIS in Afghanistan and Pakistan was killed in a USA drone strike in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, Afghan officials told NBC News – although USA officials said they are doubting reports of his death.
National Directorate of Security, the Afghan intelligence agency, suggest he was killed during a strike on the Nangarhar province in Afghanistan.
Hafez Saeed was the leader of IS in the “so-called Khorasan state”, according to Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), referring to an old term to describe Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Saeed and Shahid had both been top commanders with the Pakistani Taliban before shifting allegiances to the militant group based in Syria and Iraq.
However, alleged links between ex- Taliban groups in the region and Daesh in Syria and Iraq have been hard to quantify.
Friday’s strike was carried out by American-led coalition forces in coordination with intelligence provided by the spy agency.
Finally, the members of the Council reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Afghanistan on its path towards peace, reconciliation, democracy and development.
A study on terrorism leadership deficits and militant tactics, reveals that decapitation strikes with drones make militant groups more likely to attack civilians.
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Earlier this year, in February, Afghanistan’s NDS announced that a drone strike in Afghanistan killed Abdul Rauf Khadim, the group’s number two in command in the country. In several districts the Taliban are now engaged in clashes with the Islamic State, which has seized several areas. That attack killed at least 33 people and wounded more than 100.
