Abdul Hasib, ISIS Head in Afghanistan killed along in a raid

A joint operation conducted by the US Special force and Afghan on 27th April resulted in the death of Abdul Hasib, the ISIS leader for Afganistan. The operation was carried out in eastern province of Nangarhar, near Pakistan border.
Nangarhar, which used to be a peaceful place in Kabul, recently became volatile and something of a warzone as the ISIS group in the leadership of Abdul Hasib, who has been appointed to the position last year after the death of Hafiz Saeed, transformed this region into a major militant command hub.

But the tides have been turning against the ISIS and they have suffered a series of setbacks. Last month US and Afghan forces were monitoring the activity of ISIS fighters in Nangarhar province and dropped a non-nuclear bomb nicknamed MOAB which killed almost 95 militants.

Another face off between the allied forces and the insurgents led to the killing of Abdul Hasib but no confirmation came from the US army chief pertaining to his death. On May 7th Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani and NATO commander in Afghanistan General John Nicholson both confirmed the death of Abdul Hasib and several leader of ISIS. It has also been declared that no causalities were suffered by local resident and ground army staff.

Abdul Hasib was considered to be the mastermind of the inhuman attack on the Kabul military hospital in March that took dozens of innocent lives. The attackers entered the hospital posing as doctors and fired on everyone irrespective of age and gender with guns and grenades. The group was known for spreading terror in Afgansisatn with common practice of beheading the older members of a family in front of the rest of the family and kidnapping woman for slavery.

Today more airstrikes were conducted in the area by Afghanistan’s air force resulting in the death of at least 34 ISIS fighters; a radio station controlled by the ISIS was also destroyed. Fighting is still underway and the area is off limits to reporters, so the exact death toll couldn’t be confirmed.

Number of IS extremist were reported to be increasing considerably in Afghanistan but success of the combined US-Afghan force operation in battlefield has evidently reduced their numbers. “I applaud the tremendous skill and courage shown by our Afghan partners,” Nicholson said. “This fight strengthens our resolve to rid Afghanistan of these terrorists and bring peace and stability to this great country. Any ISIS member that comes to Afghanistan will meet the same fate.”