US soldier killed fighting Daesh in Afghanistan

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - A U.S. soldier was killed in a Daesh stronghold in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, military officials have confirmed.

“On behalf of the U.S. Forces – Afghanistan, I offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of our fallen comrade”, said General. Johan. W. Nicholson, commander of U.S. Forces – Afghanistan, late Saturday.

The soldier was a member of a U.S. Special Forces team operating with Afghan forces conducting anti-Daesh-Khorasan operations in Nangarhar’s Achin district. The NATO-led Resolute Support Mission (RSM) said Sunday that the soldier succumbed to wounds from an operation a day earlier.

Daesh militants in Afghanistan have been the focus of U.S. counter-terrorism offensives despite formally ending the combat part of the Operation Enduring Freedom in December 2014. Since then, Afghan forces have led most counter-terrorism operation across the country.

Local authorities have been claiming the killings of dozens of Daesh militants in ongoing offensives in Nagarhar and a number of northern provinces on a daily basis.

Last week NATO announced a plan to eliminate the Daesh-Khorasan terror group in Afghanistan this year. The mission’s spokesman, U.S. Capt. Bill Salvin, said since Jan. 1, U.S. forces have carried out some 460 strikes in support of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), and in March alone, 79 strikes killed more than 200 fighters. He claimed since 2015, the territory controlled by Daesh-Khorasan in Afghanistan has fallen 67 percent, while the number of fighters in the group dropped 75 percent.

However, the group has been able to conduct at least four terrorist attacks in the capital Kabul this year, claiming up to 70 lives.