U.S. STRIKE KILLS ISIS COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN

Hafiz Saeed Khan, a top ISIS commander in Afghanistan, was killed by U.S. air strikes in the Nangarhar province, Afghan officials said Saturday (Photo: Gulf Times file)

Kabul, 24 Ramadhan 1436/12 July 2015 (MINA) – A senior Islamic State (IS/ISIS) commander has been killed by an air strike in eastern Afghanistan, intelligence officials said on Saturday.

Hafez Saeed was the leader of ISIS 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, ARA News quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Saeed is the fourth high-ranking member of the fighter group to be killed in the area in the past week.

He was killed along with 30 other fighters as they gathered in Achin district of Nangarhar province late on Friday, the intelligence agency said. It did not give any further details about the air strike.

Saeed, a Pakistani, was among a small but increasing number of senior Taliban fighters who have switched allegiance to ISIS in Afghanistan.

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

After pushing out the Taliban insurgents, ISIS fighters have in the past two months gained ground in several districts of Nangarhar province, which shares a long and porous border with lawless areas inside Pakistan.

Achin fell to the ISIS fighters last month after heavy clashes with the Taliban. (T/P001/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)