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Killing of IS leader in Afghanistan confirmed by Pentagon
The head of the Islamic State in Afghanistan was killed in a U.S. drone strike last month, the Pentagon said Friday.
Hafiz Saeed Khan was killed on July 26 in the Achin district of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, said Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Gordon Trowbridge in a statement.
Khan, a former senior leader of the Pakistani Taliban, was appointed head of the IS’s branch in Afghanistan in January 2015 after pledging allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, according to a U.S. Treasury sanctions notification last year.
Khan helped establish training camps in western Afghanistan for the IS and was responsible for a series of suicide attacks that killed up to 30 people in Jalalabad in April 2015, the Pentagon said.
“Khan was known to directly participate in attacks against U.S. and coalition forces, and the actions of this network terrorized Afghans, especially in Nangarhar,” said Trowbridge.
Nangarhar has been a hotbed for IS presence since last summer.
“Khan’s death affects ISIL-K (the Pentagon’s acronym for IS’s Afghanistan branch) recruiting efforts and will disrupt ISIL-K’s operations in Afghanistan and the region,” he added.
However, this is not the first time Khan has been reported dead. Afghan intelligence agents claimed he was killed in January of last year, but the report was never confirmed.
U.S. officials estimate there are some 1,000 to 1,500 IS fighters in Afghanistan currently, most of them are believed to be former Pakistani Taliban who shifted loyalty to IS in the past two years.
Sources close to Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani tell Ariana News that the U.S. government has removed bounties on several Islamic Emirate officials.
According to the sources, those no longer on the list include Sirajuddin Haqqani, Abdul Aziz Haqqani, and Yahya Haqqani.
Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, and Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, met on Saturday to address ongoing trade and transit challenges, stressing the importance of preventing political tensions from impacting economic ties, the ministry said in a statement.
The two officials focused on finalizing the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and resolving issues related to the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), the statement read.
The meeting also discussed the upcoming visit of Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister to Afghanistan and a planned visit by an Islamic Emirate delegation to Pakistan.
The ministry hailed Sadiq’s visit to Kabul as a positive step, with Azizi emphasizing its constructive role in enhancing bilateral trade relations.
Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq met on Saturday and discussed bilateral relations, political and economic cooperation, security and transit, said Zia Ahmad Takal, head of public relations at Foreign Ministry in a statement.
In this meeting, Muttaqi emphasized that obstacles to trade and transit are not in anyone’s interest and that certain issues should not be linked together.
He added that the process of Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan should be carried out gradually and with dignity.
According to the statement, Pakistan’s special representative also acknowledged that ensuring security in Afghanistan benefits both Pakistan and the region.
He committed to introducing measures to facilitate the visa issuance process for Afghan citizens.
Mohammad Sadiq also stated that practical steps will be taken to resolve existing trade and transit challenges.
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