Drone strike reportedly kills IS leader in Afghanistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the Islamic State group in the Afghanistan and Pakistan region, was killed Friday, July 10, in a drone strike, the Afghan intelligence agency said, according to BBC News.

Saeed was killed in the strike in Achin in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province on Friday night, it said.

Some 30 other IS militants were killed, the agency said. There has been no independent verification.

The Afghan intelligence agency, the NDS, said Friday's strike was carried out by US-led coalition forces in coordination with intelligence provided by the spy agency.

NATO forces have had a new mandate since the start of the year but can still carry out drone strikes.

There has been no response from Islamic State on the reports and the Afghan government has given no official confirmation.

Reports in April said that Saeed, also referred to as Hafiz Saeed Khan, was killed while planting a bomb.

Nangarhar's Achin district is close to the border with Pakistan. The Islamic State group refers to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region as Khorasan state. Nangarhar has seen an upsurge of fighting in recent weeks, mostly between IS and the Taliban, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.

The province is one of the areas where IS militants are most active in Afghanistan.