The death of Shahidullah Shahid (pictured) was confirmed on Thursday, with Afghan authorities saying the leader died in a US-operated drone strike on Tuesday in the country's east.

Shahid, who had defected to "Islamic State" ("IS") in Afghanistan, was a former member and spokesman of a Pakistani militant group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TPP), which itself has close links to Afghanistan's Taliban. He was the first militant to publicly declare his allegiance to the extremist group.

"He wanted to expand IS operations in the country and with his death, it will have an impact on their activities," a spokesman for the Afghanistan National Directorate of Security told the Reuters news agency.

An official said Shahid was with five other militants when he was killed, in the same drone strike that killed the second-in-command of IS' Afghanistan branch, Gul Zaman, as well as another commander. Almost 50 other militants also died in the attack in the eastern Achin district of Nangarhar province, where IS has recently gained further territory after pushing out Taliban fighters.

An increasing number of ex-Taliban loyalists are joining the ranks of IS, disillusioned by the Taliban's failed bid to return to power in the capital Kabul. However, this has also served to make them targets of strikes by unmanned US drones.

It comes on the same day as an Afghan negotiator mooted the possibility of a ceasefire at an upcoming round of talks with the Taliban.

an/kms (dpa, Reuters)