Daesh's Afghan 'emir' killed in raid, US says

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The leader of Daesh's Afghanistan affiliate was killed in a U.S. raid earlier this week, the Pentagon said Friday.

Abu Sayed, the "emir" of Daesh-Khorasan, was killed July 11 by U.S. forces during a strike on the group's headquarters in Kunar Province , spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.

In addition to killing other Daesh-Khorasan members, the raid "will significantly disrupt the terror group's plans to expand its presence in Afghanistan", White said.

"ISIS leaders chose Abu Sayed to lead the group after Afghan and U.S. forces killed the previous ISIS-K leaders - Hafiz Sayed Khan in late July 2016, and Abdul Hasib, in late April of this year," she added, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and its Khorasan affiliate.

U.S. forces have been directly involved in anti-Daesh raids in Afghanistan's eastern regions since an offensive in early March with their Afghan counterparts.

The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson, said the operation stands as "another success in our campaign to defeat ISIS-K".

"There is no safe haven for ISIS-K in Afghanistan," he said in a statement. "We will continue until they are annihilated."