Islamic State in Afghanistan leader confirmed dead after raid

Catherine Garcia, The Week US's avatar
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last updated
A member of the Afghan security forces.
(Image credit: Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images)

Abdul Hasib, the head of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, was killed last month during an operation conducted by Afghan and U.S. forces, Afghan officials confirmed Sunday.

Two U.S. Army Rangers were also killed during the April 27 raid in the eastern province of Nangarhar, along with 35 ISIS fighters and commanders. Hasib became the terrorist group's leader in Afghanistan after Hafiz Saeed Khan was killed in a 2016 drone strike; ISIS has been active in the country since 2015. The affiliate, also known as Islamic State Khorasan, has been blamed for several recent attacks in Afghanistan, including an assault against Kabul's main military hospital, which left dozens of patients and employees dead.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.