WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Islamic State group leader in Afghanistan was killed in a U.S. drone strike last month, the Pentagon confirmed Friday, saying his death will affect the group’s recruiting and operations in the region.
Gordon Trowbridge, deputy press secretary, said Hafiz Saeed Khan died in southern Nangarhar Province on July 26.
The State Department last year designated Khan a global terrorist, saying he is the leader of the Islamic State in Khorasan, which includes former members of the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban. Khan had previously been a Tehrik-e Taliban commander, but last year pledged loyalty to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
U.S. and Afghan leaders have been concerned about the growth of IS in Afghanistan. The militants are mainly in the country’s eastern region. They were targeted by a U.S.-backed Afghan military offensive last month that included American and Afghan special operations forces.
Five U.S. commandos were injured in combat with Islamic State fighters during the offensive, in what officials thought was the first instance of Americans being wounded in fighting against the IS in Afghanistan.
Trowbridge said Khan was known to directly participate in attacks against U.S. and coalition forces, and said his IS group used Nangarhar and the region to train and equip militants and provide a “continuous supply of enemy fighters.”
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FOX: Obama is killing the terrorists now only to make sure that Trump doesn’t become president.
So is this like fragging, since we all now know Obama founded Isis?
Dubya basically created ISIS in Iraq due to his immense stupidity and irresponsibility, not to mention War Crimes. Obama only funds and arms ISIS now, only, and has allied with them in Syria (and elsewhere by now, wherever it suits his purposes - an ally is an ally, right?).
I’m totally on board with the cutting of a bloated military budget. However, in this case, there would be one sure way for us not to use drones to kill members of ISIS. If they threw in the towel and started acting like something other than sociopaths on a bender.
Trump would call this “friendly fire.”