Leader of ISIS in Afghanistan killed in airstrike

An Afghan soldier puts his gun against the ISIS flag.

(Image credit: Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 27 August 2018

The leader of the Islamic State in Afghanistan was killed Saturday in an airstrike, U.S. officials said Sunday.

The counterterrorism strike against ISIS's Abu Saad Erhabi was conducted by U.S. forces, targeting in Nangarhar province, said Lt. Colonel Martin O’Donnell, spokesman for the U.S.-led NATO mission in Afghanistan. He said that in addition to Erhabi, the strike killed 10 other militants.

ISIS has been active in Afghanistan since 2015, fighting against the Taliban and Afghan and NATO forces. The United States estimates there are about 2,000 ISIS fighters in the country, but it's hard to keep track because they often go back and forth between other extremist groups. In early August, ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack against an academy in Kabul, which left 48 people dead and 67 injured.

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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.

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