Afghan-US forces kill top IS leader during raid in eastern province

KABUL - The US forces in Afghanistan on Monday confirmed that a top leader of Islamic State (IS) group was killed during a joint operation in eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar late last month.

Emir or top leader of IS Sheikh Abdul Hasib was killed on April 27 in southern part of Nangarhar, which has been regarded as stronghold of IS group in the province, 120 km east of Kabul, the US Forces-Afghanistan said in a statement.

"The raid conducted by the Afghan Special Security Forces (Ktah Khas), in partnership with US Forces-Afghanistan, also resulted in the deaths of several other high ranking ISIS-K leaders and 35 ISIS-K fighters," the statement added.

ISIS-K refers to ISIS-Khorasan, the terror group's affiliate in Afghanistan.

"Abdul Hasib directed the March 8 attack against Kabul National Military Hospital, which resulted in the death and injury of over one-hundred innocent Afghans. Hasib also directed fighters to behead local elders in front of their families and ordered the kidnapping of women and girls to force them to marry ISIS-K fighters," said the statement.

"Afghan and US Forces have killed or captured hundreds of fighters and the 2017 offensive against the terror group continues. To date, the campaign has liberated over half of the districts that ISIS-K controlled, which has allowed local residents to return to their homes for the first time in more than two years," the statement added.

On April 13, the US forces struck an IS cave complex by the largest non-nuclear bomb in the mountainous Achin district of Nangarhar, killing nearly 100 IS fighters and destroying a militants' hideout together with several bunkers and tunnels.