Top ISIS Leader Killed In U.S. Drone Strike
KABUL, Afghanistan, July 11 (UPI) — The Islamic State’s leader in Afghanistan and Pakistan was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the latest of a series of American air strikes on the militants, Afghan intelligence officials said.
Hafiz Saeed Khan, a former Taliban leader who pledged his allegiance to the IS last year, was killed in the strike Friday with 30 other insurgents in their compound in the Achin region in the country’s eastern Nangarhar Province, said Asib Sediqqi, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security.
“Hafiz Saeed was killed in a gathering, an area where they were making plans,” Sediqqi said.
Khan, who has been reported killed before, would be the third senior leader in Afghanistan killed recently if confirmed. Shahidullah Shahid and Gull Zaman, also IS leaders in Afghanistan, were killed along with dozens of other militants in U.S. airstrikes on Nangahar.
The Islamic State has not confirmed any of the deaths, which may represent a serious setback to the group’s operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, an area they call Khorasan.
