Sunday, August 14, 2016
Kabul (BNA) The leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group in Afghanistan and Pakistan was killed by a U.S. drone last month, a U.S. defense secretary official confirmed to Fox News on Friday.
Pentagon spokesman Gordon Trowbridge said that Hafiz Saeed Khan was killed in an airstrike on July 26 in Nangarhar, eastern province of Afghanistan. “Khan was known for directly participation in attacks against U.S. and coalition forces, and the actions of his network terrorized Afghans, especially in Nangarhar,” Trowbridge said.
The spokesman added that ISIS had been active in the region since last summer and used the area to train and equip militants and provide a “continuous supply of enemy fighters.”
The US State Department last year designated Khan a global terrorist, saying he is the leader of the Islamic State in Khorasan, which includes former members of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban. Khan had previously been a Tehrik-e Taliban commander, but last year pledged loyalty to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Khan was reportedly killed last year but the death was never confirmed. Khan is the second prominent jihadist that is killed in the region in three months. Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed by a US airstrike in Pakistan in May.
