Saad Erhabi, the fourth leader of Islamic State's (IS) branch in Afghanistan, has been killed, Afghan authorities say. US forces say its joint raid "targeted a senior leader of a designated terrorist organization."
An air strike on Nangarhar on 7 July 2018Image: Getty Images/AFP/W. Kohsar
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Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security said Erhabi was killed at a village in Khugyani district in eastern Nangarhar province on Saturday night along with 10 other IS members.
A large amount of weapons and ammunition was also destroyed, it added.
US forces in Afghanistan said the joint strike had "targeted a senior leader of a designated terrorist organization."
Resignation in Kabul
Erhabi's reported death coincides with military setbacks for Kabul, where Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has rejected resignation offers from three key officials after the resignation of his national security adviser Mohammed Haneef Atmar.
Ghani's former adviser Mohammad Hanif AtmarImage: picture-alliance/dpa/TASS/A. Korotayev
The jihadi group's Amaq media agency carried no comment on Sunday.
The directorate said Erhabi was the fourth leader of the relatively small but potent group killed since early 2015.
In early July, a US drone killed Abu Sayed, who previously had led the affiliate, sometimes known as Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), said by the US military to have about 2,000 fighters.
Eastern Afghanistan
Nangarhar (pictured above), the origin of IS in Afghanistan, lies on the country's porous eastern border with Pakistan.
ISIS-K has fought both Afghanistan's main insurgent group, the Taliban, as well as Afghan and US-led forces deployed over nearly 17 years.
Hours earlier, it had claimed responsibility for two deaths caused by a suicide attack during a sit-in protest outside an election commission office in Jalalabad.
ipj/ng (AFP, Reuters, dpa)
Endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Seventeen years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, the war-torn country remains in the grip of Islamist violence. A string of deadly attacks in the last year suggests militants are stronger than ever.
Image: picture alliance/Photoshot
Fragile security
Repeated attacks in Afghanistan in 2018 and 2019 have killed and wounded hundreds of innocent Afghans, and shown the world the fragile and worsening state of security in the conflict-stricken country. The incidents have plunged war-weary Afghan citizens into a state of despair and highlighted the limitations faced by the government in Kabul in ensuring public security.
Image: Reuters/M. Ismail
A long series of attacks
The violent incidents have made Afghanistan once again a staple of international headlines. Outfits like the Taliban and the "Islamic State" (IS) have claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Afghan government is under heavy pressure to restore security and take back territory controlled by a number of insurgent groups, including the Taliban and IS.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Hossaini
Spring offensive
In 2018, the Taliban announced the start of their annual spring offensive, dismissing an offer of peace talks by President Ashraf Ghani. The militants, fighting to restore their version of strict Islamic law to Afghanistan, said their campaign was a response to a more aggressive US military strategy adopted in 2017, which aims to force the militants into peace talks.
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Trump's Afghanistan policy
US President Donald Trump unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan in 2017, vowing to deploy more troops to train and advise Afghan security forces. Trump also pledged to support Afghan troops in their war against the Taliban and maintain US presence in the country for as long as there was a need for it. In 2019, he reversed course and promised a troop pullout.
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Afghan peace process
Despite President Ghani's offer in February 2018 for peace talks "without preconditions," the Taliban had until 2019 shown no interest, dismissing the peace overtures as a "conspiracy."
Image: Getty Images/AFP/N. Shirzad
Pakistani support
Pakistan has been under pressure from Kabul and Washington to stop offering safe havens to militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, a charge Islamabad denies and insists that its influence over the insurgents has been exaggerated. Kabul and Islamabad regularly trade accusations of harboring the other country's militants and the harsh language has underscored the strains between them.
Image: DW/H. Hamraz
Role of the warlords
Apart from the Taliban, Afghan warlords exercise massive influence in the country. Last year, Hizb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul after a 20-year exile to play an active role in Afghan politics. In September 2016, the Afghan government signed a deal with Hekmatyar in the hope that other warlords and militant groups would seek better ties with Kabul.
Image: Reuters/O.Sobhani
An inefficient government
In the midst of an endless battle for power, President Ghani's approval ratings continue to plummet. Rampant corruption in the Afghan government and a long tug-of-war within the US-brokered national unity government has had a negative impact on the government's efforts to eradicate terrorism.
