ISIS leader in Afghanistan has been reportedly killed in a string of operations conducted during the weekend. The country’s official intelligence agency confirmed the same saying that he was killed alongside ten other members of the terror organization.
The communique said that the Emir of Daesh in Afghanistan Saad Arhabi died in a joint operation with coalition forces late Saturday in the group’s eastern stronghold in Nangarhar province near the border with Pakistan. Arhabi is the fourth leader of IS’s Afghan branch to be killed since the group first emerged in the country around 2014.
In addition to the eleven members of a large number of weapons, ammunition and explosives were destroyed by the air attacks. US forces in Afghanistan confirmed they had conducted a strike in the location described by Afghan officials, which “targeted a senior leader of a designated terrorist organization.” IS has a relatively small but potent presence in Afghanistan, mainly in Nangarhar but more recently in the northern province of Jowzjan.
More than 150 ISIS fighters surrendered to Afghan forces in Jowzjan on August 1, a move which troops and the Taliban hailed as the end of the group’s foothold in the north of the country. While the defection is a sign of the organization losing its foothold in the country, it is still too early to term the Daesh as defeated in Afghanistan seeing as it had close to 2000 fighters. The recent message from ISIS central Emir al Baghdadi could inspire a resurgence in the country.
