Pentagon claims death of IS leader Abu Sayed in Afghanistan raid

The US forces have killed Abu Sayed, the leader of ISIS-Khorasan, the terror group's Afghanistan affiliate, said a CNN report.

Quoting Chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White, the CNN report said, "The 'Emir' of ISIS-K was killed in a strike on the group's headquarters in Kunar Province on July 11."

US Navy Captain Bill Salvin, spokesman for US Forces Afghanistan, said Sayed was killed in an airstrike by a US drone. The initial Pentagon statement described Sayed being killed in a "raid".

The CNN reported Secretary of Defence James Mattis as saying that "the death of a leader like Sayed is obviously a victory on our side in terms of setting them back, it's the right direction".

Gen. John Nicholson, Commander, US Forces Afghanistan said in a statement, "This operation is another success in our campaign to defeat ISIS-K in Afghanistan in 2017. Abu Sayed is the third ISIS-K emir we have killed in the last year and we will continue until they are annihilated. There is no safe haven for ISIS-K in Afghanistan."

Hafiz Sayed Khan was killed in July 2016 and another emir Abdul Hasib was killed during a joint US-Afghan commando raid in April.
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