Republished : US MIL confirms death of Islamic State Afghanistan leader Abdul Hasib

US and Afghan troops killed the leader of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate in an April raid, US military officials confirmed on Sunday.

The raid in Nangarhar province targeted the leader, Abdul Hasib, US-Forces Afghanistan said.

His group is affiliated with IS in Iraq and Syria, and the US military calls it Islamic State-Khorasan, or ISIS-K.

US-Forces Afghanistan said earlier that if confirmed, the death of the Hasib and his associates would “significantly degrade ISIS-K operations in Afghanistan and help reach our goal of destroying them in 2017.”