There has been no confirmation of the death by IS.
The statement came after USA and Afghan officials announced on May 7 that a joint military operation last month killed Abdul Hasib, the IS chief in Nangarhar.
Last month, Gen. Nicholson authorized the use of the American military's largest non-nuclear munition, dubbed the "mother of all bombs", on a network of ISIL-K tunnels and caves in Nangarhar that made it hard for the USA and their Afghan partners to combat the jihadists. Local government officials said they believed the militants wanted to avenge the killing of an IS commander in Afghanistan by security forces. "Nevertheless, our forces successfully closed on the enemy".
The leader of Islamic State in Afghanistan has been killed in a joint raid in eastern Nangarhar province, Afghan and USA military officials confirmed Sunday. The operation to eliminate the high-profile terrorist leader involved some 50 US Army rangers and dozens of Afghan special forces troops. They have been identified as Sgt. Joshua P. Rodgers, 22, of Bloomington, Illinois, and Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas, 23, of Kettering, Ohio. Defense officials told Fox News that friendly fire was the suspected cause of the Rangers' deaths.
Hasib became the head of the Islamic State in the area after US drone strikes killed Hafiz Saeed Khan, the previous leader, last year.
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During a CNN appearance later Friday, Eisen said that Trump's reported loyalty demand "smacks of obstruction". Fisher formerly served as assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Criminal Division.
Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson praised the successful joint operation as another important step in the relentless campaign to defeat IS in the country in 2017.
Hasib had directed an attack in March on the country's biggest military hospital in the capital, Kabul, which killed 50 and wounded more than 80 in one of the deadliest assaults since 2001, USA forces said. His name often included a third name of Logari to note his tribal roots.
It said he also ordered fighters to behead local elders in front of their families and kidnap women and girls to force them to marry ISIS fighters. That month Afghan and U.S. forces launched a counter-offensive in the province.
The Pentagon will ask the White House next week to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan to break a deadlocked fight with the Taliban, a senior official said Thursday. Journalists have been prevented from reaching the blast site, but Salvin said fighting was still ongoing in the area.
The Interior Ministry said the airstrikes killed at least 34 IS fighters over the past 24 hours and destroyed an insurgent-controlled radio station in Nangarhar province.
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