Daesh Chief in Afghanistan Confirmed Killed In Joint US Operation
Local Editor
The head of Daesh [the Arabic acronym for the Takfiri ‘ISIS/ISIL' group] in Afghanistan, Abdul Hasib, was killed by Afghan and US Special Forces in the eastern province of Nangarhar, officials said.
Hasib, appointed last year after his predecessor Hafiz Saeed Khan was killed in a US drone strike, is believed to have ordered a series of high profile attacks including one on 8 March on the main military hospital in Kabul, a statement said.
Last month, a Pentagon spokesman said Hasib had probably been killed during the raid on 27 April by US and Afghan Special Forces in Nangarhar during which two US army Rangers were killed. But prior to Sunday's announcement there had been no confirmation.
"This successful joint operation is another important step in our relentless campaign to defeat [Daesh]," the top US commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson said in a statement.
The statement, following an earlier announcement by Afghan president Ashraf Ghani, said Hasib directed the 8 March attack on the main Kabul military hospital by a group of militants disguised as doctors. Dozens of medical staff and patients were killed in the attack.
It said he also ordered fighters to behead local elders in front of their families and kidnap women and girls to force them to marry Daesh militants.
The local affiliate of Daesh, sometimes known as ‘Islamic' State Khorasan [Isis-K], after an old name for the region that includes Afghanistan, has been active since 2015, fighting both the Taliban as well as Afghan and US forces.
It is believed to maintain links with the main Daesh movement in Iraq and Syria but has considerable operational independence.
US and Afghan special forces, backed by drone strikes and other air support, have waged a series of operations against Daesh-K since March, killing dozens of their fighters, mainly in Nangarhar, on the border with Pakistan.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
