Afghan government officials have said that a top leader of Islamic State (IS) has been killed in an airstrike over the weekend.
According to the details, Afghan Intelligence agency said that IS leader Saad Arhabi died along with 10 other people in a joint operation with coalition forces in Nangarhar province, near 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.
The agency also said a large number of weapons, ammunition and explosives were destroyed by the air attacks.
US forces also confirmed the operation and said in a statement that they had conducted a strike in the location described by Afghan officials, which “targeted a senior leader of a designated terrorist organisation”.
IS has a relatively small but potent presence in Afghanistan, mainly in Nangarhar but more recently in the northern province of Jowzjan.
Afghanistan blames Pakistan of providing safe sanctuary to religious extremists, a charge that Pakitan denies.
