ISIL SAYS AFGHANISTAN LEADER STILL ALIVE

A still from a propaganda video showing the leader of ISIS in Khorasan, based around Afghanistan and Pakistan. (Screengrab)

Riyadh, 26 Ramadan 1436/13 July 2015 (MINA) – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or Daesh on Monday released an audio tape depicting the movement’s leader for Afghanistan, contradicting reports that he was killed in a U.S. drone strike.

The message purportedly from Hafez Saeed was posted to an ISIL website two days after the Afghan intelligence agency said he had been killed.

The audio could not be independently verified, Al Arabiya reports as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

Saeed, a Pakistani, was reportedly killed in the Achin district of Nangarhar province late on Friday, the intelligence agency said.

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Saeed switched allegiance last year from the Taliban to ISIS in Afghanistan.

ISIL figures have been targets for U.S drone strikes, which killed three other ISIL commanders in the same area in a week, including Shahidullah Shahid and Gul Zaman.

After pushing out the Taliban insurgents, ISIL fighters have in the past two months gained grounds in several districts of Nangarhar province, which shares a long and porous border with lawless areas inside Pakistan. (T/P001/NMT)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)