Air strike kills Afghanistan ISIL commander
A high-ranking ISIL commander in Afghanistan has been killed in an air strike, it was reported yesterday, as Afghan and United States forces intensified attacks on the militant group.
Qari Hekmat was the top commander of ISIL’s Afghan group in Jowzjan. The extremists established a stronghold in the northern province after coming under intense pressure in the eastern province of Nangarhar.
Hekmat was killed on Friday in an Afghan air strike in Darzab district, the defence ministry said, describing him as “one of the key figures” for ISIL in northern Afghanistan.
He was involved in or responsible for “deadly terrorist attacks” and has been replaced by Mawlawi Habib-ul-Rahman, the ministry said.
Jowzjan provincial governor Lutfullah Azizi said it was US forces who carried out the air strike.
“Our intelligence sources have identified his [Hekmat’s] body. His death will affect the recruitment of Daesh and disperse ISIL fighters in Afghanistan’s north,” Mr Azizi said.
Afghan security forces last month detained a French woman fighting for ISIL in the same district of Jowzjan. French and Algerian fighters, some from Syria, have joined ISIL in the restive province.
In January, Afghan troops caught the group’s “head facilitator of foreign forces”. Two months later, his two successors were killed in a US air strike, Nato’s Resolute Support mission said.
Jowzjan provincial police chief Faqir Jawzjani said Hekmat’s death was “a big blow” to ISIL in the north.
“He was the founder of Daesh in northern Afghanistan and had recruited fighters,” Mr Jawzjani said.
He said Hekmat was killed on Thursday in a joint operation between Afghan and foreign forces.
ISIL emerged in Afghanistan in 2014 as Nato combat troops withdrew from the country and handed over responsibility to Afghan security forces.
Despite being vastly outnumbered by the Taliban, ISIL has claimed responsibility for devastating attacks in Kabul and elsewhere in the country.
Some western and Afghan officials believe it has received help from the Haqqani Network, a brutal wing of the Taliban.
Afghan intelligence sources identified Qari Hekmat’s body after a US air strike in Jowzjan