Islamic State' Afghanistan chief killed in US raid
 

Islamic State' Afghanistan chief killed in US raid
RE: http://www.dw.com/en/islamic-state-a...aid/a-39703152


Head of the "Islamic State" (IS) terror group in Afghanistan has been killed in a US airstrike in Kunar province, the Pentagon confirmed. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says Abu Sayed's death is a significant blow to IS.

The Pentagon said in a statement on Friday that Abu Sayed was killed in a July 11 airstrike in Afghanistan's northern Kunar province. The raid killed other so-called "Islamic State" (IS) jihadis too.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis termed Sayed's killing a significant achievement.
"You kill a leader of one of these groups and it sets them back," Mattis told reporters. "It is obviously a victory on our side in terms of setting them [IS] back. It's the right direction," he added.

Pentagon officials say the group now numbers fewer than 1,000 in Afghanistan.
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US and Afghan forces had also killed Sayed's two predecessors – Hafiz Saeed in July 2016, and Abdul Hasib in April this year.

At the time, the US military had said Hasib's death would "help reach our goal of destroying them in 2017."

"We will continue until they are annihilated. There is no safe haven for ISIS-K in Afghanistan," said US General John Nicholson, who leads US forces in Afghanistan, referring to the jihadi group's operations in its so-called "Khorasan province" that encompasses a historic region covering Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of Iran.