ISIS Afghan chief killed in US air strike

Kabul, Aug. 13: Several senior Islamic State group members in Afghanistan, including a provincial leader, have been killed in a United States air strike, an official said Sunday.

General John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said Thursday’s strike killed Abdul Rahman, who he claimed was a provincial leader in IS’s Afghanistan branch, known as IS-Khorasan Province (IS-K).

Rahman’s death comes a month after US forces killed Abu Sayed, the head of IS-K. That marked the third time in a year that the affiliate had lost its leader.

“The death of Abdul Rahman deals yet another blow to the senior leadership of ISIS-K,” Nicholson said in a statement.

“He found out just like those before him that there are no safe havens in Afghanistan. We will hunt them down until they are no longer a threat to the Afghan people and the region,” he added.

Mr Nicholson said that three other senior IS-K members had been killed in the strike in Darah-Ye Pech district in the northeastern

The death of Abdul Rahman deals yet another blow to the senior leadership of ISIS-K. He found out just like those before him that there are no safe havens in Afghanistan — Gen. John Nicholson, Commander of US forces in Afghanistan

province of Kunar.

He identified Rahman as IS-K’s provincial emir in Kunar and said he had been a “primary candidate” to succeed Sayed as the affiliate’s leader following the latter’s death, also in an air strike in Kunar, on July 11.

US forces have regularly been targeting ISIS fighters in Afghanistan.