This undated file image posted on a militant website on Jan. 14, 2015, shows fighters from the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), now called the Islamic State group, marching in Raqqa, Syria.(Photo: AP)
An American airstrike killed the top-ranking Islamic State commander in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Afghanistan intelligence service says.
Abdul Hassib Sediqi, a spokesman for the National Directorate of Security, said Saturday that Hafeez Saeed was one of more than 30 militants killed in a U.S. strike Friday night in Nangarhar province, according to the Associated Press.
"Saeed was killed in a gathering, an area where they were making plans," Sediqi told
TheWashington Post, adding that the agency's operatives provided American commanders with the intelligence to launch the airstrike.
The airstrike was launched from an American drone, the BBC reported.
Afghan government officials have claimed the presence of the Islamic State in at least three provinces of the country, but the existence of an active Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan had not been confirmed. The Taliban, at war with the Afghan government for nearly 14 years, has warned the Islamic State to stay out of Afghanistan.
There was no independent confirmation of Saeed's death.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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