U.S. drone strike kills key Islamic State figure

ISLAMABAD — A former spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, who last year defected from the group to help launch the Islamic State branch in Afghanistan, was killed in a recent U.S. drone strike in eastern Afghanistan, the Afghan intelligence agency said Thursday.

The strike in Nangarhar Province — which the U.S. military said took place Tuesday — killed more than two dozen Islamic State militants including Shahidullah Shahid, the one-time Pakistani Taliban commander, according to local media reports.

For years, Shahid was the chief spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, appearing in media reports to take credit for some of Pakistan’s grisliest terrorist attacks. Shahid’s public role made him a top target for Pakistani authorities.

But in October, Shahid surprised many analysts when he appeared in a video expressing support for the Islamic State and its supreme commander, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The Pakistani Taliban, which viewed Islamic State as a rival and considers Mullah Omar to be its supreme leader, quickly severed ties with Shahid.

Shahid, however, emerged as a key leader of the Islamic State’s Khorasan chapter that is seeking to gain influence in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Though the Islamic State so far has only a limited presence in Pakistan, the group has been making inroads in Afghanistan. Shahid was also believed to be the Islamic State’s chief spokesman in Afghanistan.

The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan had no immediate comment on the strike. But Afghanistan National Directorate of Security said it supplied the intelligence for the strike, which took place in Nangahar’s Achin district.

There was no immediate confirmation from Islamic State on Shahid’s reported death.

But Afghan intelligence officials said Gull Zaman, another top Islamic State commander, was also killed this week in a U.S. drone strike.

According to Long War Journal, a website monitoring conflicts including Afghanistan, Zaman was the deputy leader of the Islamic State’s Khorasan chapter. Afghan intelligence officials identified Zaman as the Islamic State’s “military operations deputy.”

Previously, Zaman had headed up the Pakistan Taliban’s operations in Pakistan’s Orakzai tribal area, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, which monitors violence in the region.