The leader of Islamic State in Afghanistan, Abu Saad Erhabi, was reportedly killed during a military strike in the eastern province of Nangarhar in Afghanistan. Ten other members of the group were also said to have died.
Per Al Jazeera, the provincial governor’s spokesman Attaullah Khogyani confirmed Erhabi among the dead, as did a statement from the Afghani National Directorate of Security.
The statement from the provincial governor’s representative also noted that this was the fourth Islamic State leader to have been killed in Afghanistan since July, 2017.
The report from the Afghani National Directorate of Security stated that the operations were carried out jointly by US-led coalition forces and Afghan forces, with both land and air components. This was confirmed by the United States.
Lieutenant-Colonel Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the United States carried out a strike in Afghanistan on Saturday against a “senior leader of a designated terrorist organization.”
Reuters
The pressure on Islamic State in Afghanistan is strong, with only an estimated force of 2000 IS fighters available, many of whom are known to shift allegiances. More than 150 of the fighters surrendered to Afghan forces in July.
A campaign of strong pressure cannot be said to exist against the Taliban, a fundamentalist Islamic group which made international headlines by destroying ancient works of art, attacking young girls for daring to become educated, and aiding Al Qaeda in their attacks on the United States.
While that is also based in Afghanistan, the Trump administration, like the Obama administration before it, has reached out to them in an attempt to negotiate peace.
