15 July 2017•Update: 17 July 2017
By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan
A suspected regional Taliban commander and seven other alleged fighters were killed in a drone strike in eastern Nangarhar province on Friday night, according to a provincial spokesman on Saturday.
The strike came a day after the U.S. Department of Defense said it killed an alleged Daesh chief in the country in a similar attack.
Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor in eastern Nangarhar province, told Anadolu Agency the drone operated by American forces attacked a car in the province’s Kot district, killing suspected Taliban commander Shaista Khan, also known as Kamran, and his fighters.
“The strike occurred in Mashwani area of Bati Kot district. No harm has been done to civilians,” he added.
Separately, the U.S Forces - Afghanistan (USFOR-A) said on Friday they killed Abu Sayed, the so-called “emir of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria - Khorasan” in a strike on the group's headquarters in Kunar Province on Tuesday.
Daesh leaders had reportedly chosen Abu Sayed to lead the group after Afghan and U.S. forces killed the group’s previous suspected leaders -- Hafiz Sayed Khan in late July 2016, and Abdul Hasib, in late April of this year, USFOR-A said.
Afghan and U.S. forces launched a counter-Daesh offensive in early March 2017 to drive fighters from Nangarhar. Bordering Pakistan’s restive tribal belt, Nangarhar and Kunar provinces are believed to be the strongest bastion for Daesh in the country that has managed to orchestrate strings of terrorists attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul.
