Pentagon Confirms Death of Another ISIS Leader
An American drone killed an ISIS leader in a raid on the terror group’s headquarters in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan.
Abu Sayed, the leader or “emir” of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, and other militants were killed by the operation headed by US forces.
The news was confirmed by the Pentagon in a statement, asserting that the successful operation will “significantly disrupt the terror group’s plans to expand its presence in Afghanistan.”
The Islamic State, also know as ISIS, launched a deadly rampage in the conflict-hit nation over the past year.
Victory For US Side?
The successful operation against the terror group was considered a victory on the US side.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis told reporters on Friday that the death of a leader like Sayed “sets them back for a day a week, a month, it’s about who it is and what kind of people are below them. It is obviously a victory on our side in terms of setting them back, it’s the right direction.”
In addition, Gen. John Nicholson, Commander, US Forces Afghanistan said in a statement, “This operation is another success in our campaign to defeat ISIS-K in Afghanistan in 2017. Abu Sayed is the third ISIS-K emir we have killed in the last year and we will continue until they are annihilated. There is no safe haven for ISIS-K in Afghanistan.”
Who is Abu Sayed?
Sayed became the next-in-line leader of the terror group after his two predecessors were killed in a US-Afghan commando raid last year. Hafiz Sayed Khan was killed in July 2016 and another emir, Abdul Hasib was also killed in April.
The April operation left two United States Army Rangers dead and resulted in the deaths of several other top leaders of ISIS-K, and 35 ISIS fighters.
The U.S. currently has 8,400 troops in Afghanistan, training and advising the Afghan military in the fight against terror groups, particularly the notorious Taliban and the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan.
Record of ISIS-Related Attacks in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has been rocked by insurgencies and targeted by terror attacks perpetrated by the Taliban and ISIS.
In 2016, three ISIS suicide bombers launched an attack on the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad. The attack left six people dead, as well as the three assailants.
On June 20, 2016, ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a bus carrying Nepalese security guards in Kabul.The attack killed at least 16 people. ISIS identified the bomber as Irfanullah Ahmed and published a photo of him.
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