Suspected U.S.

drone strikes kill key

Islamic State figures in Afghanistan

An Afghan soldier screens passengers at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Jalalabad

province on June 29, 2015. (Parwiz/Reuters)

By Sudarsan Raghavan and Tim Craig-July 9

KABUL A key leader of the Islamic State and another top commander were killed in
recent U.S drone strikes in eastern Afghanistan, according to intelligence officials here,
the latest sign that the radical Islamist group is considered a growing threat in the
country.
The strike in Nangahar province which the U.S. military said occurred Tuesday

killed more than two dozen Islamic State militants, according to local media reports.
They included Shahidullah Shahid, a former spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban who
last year defected to help launch the Islamic States branch in Afghanistan. He is
thought to be the groups chief spokesman in the country.
Afghan intelligence officials said Islamic State commander Gull Zaman also was killed
this week in a U.S. drone strike. But it was unclear whether he died in the same strike
that targeted Shahid. A U.S. military spokesman in Kabul said several precision
strikes were conducted against individuals threatening U.S. and Afghan forces in
two districts of Nangahar on Monday and Tuesday.
As of Thursday night, Islamic State had not confirmed the reported deaths.
[Taliban in Afghanistan tells Islamic State to stay out of country]
The suspected drone attacks suggest that the United States is growing increasingly
involved in thwarting the rise of the Islamic State also known as ISIS, ISIL and
Daesh in Afghanistan. Tribal elders and provincial officials in Nangahar said an
American air campaign, conducted in conjunction with Afghan security forces and
intelligence agents, has been underway in the province for two weeks. U.S. drones and
fighter jets have been deployed regularly, officials said.
These assaults have intensified in the past two days, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a
spokesman for the provincial governors office. Some 80, 90 insurgents have been
killed in these airstrikes in the past two weeks.
The strikes comes as the Islamic State, which controls swaths of Syria and Iraq, has
made steady inroads in Afghanistan this year, though its presence in next-door
Pakistan remains limited. In January, the group announced the creation of its
Khorasan chapter, a reference to an ancient term for an area that includes Afghanistan
and Pakistan.

By February, U.S. military commanders were noticing disaffected Taliban fighters

rebranding themselves as Islamic State members. Today, the group is clashing with the
Taliban as they jockey for control of territory in eastern Afghanistan. In Nangahar, the
Islamic State controls several areas.
This weeks assaults also coincided with the launch of peace talks between Afghanistan
and the Pakistan-based Taliban leadership. The first session was held Tuesday night
near the Pakistani capital. The Islamic State opposes the talks.
[Fear of the Islamic State spawns a renegade Afghan militia]
For years, Shahid was the chief spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, frequently
appearing in media reports to assert responsibility for some of the grisliest attacks in
Pakistan.
But in October, Shahid surprised many analysts when he appeared in a video
expressing support for the Islamic State and its supreme commander, Abu Bakr alBaghdadi. The Pakistani Taliban, which views the Islamic State as a rival and considers
Mohammad Omar its supreme leader, quickly severed ties with Shahid. The defector
then emerged as a key leader of the Islamic States Khorasan chapter.
A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan provided no details of the
operations or the targets. But Afghanistans National Directorate of Security said it
supplied the intelligence for the strikes, which have unfolded mostly in Nangahars
Achin and Bati Kot districts, where the Taliban and the Islamic State have waged
intense battles.
A powerful tribal elder in Bati Kot suggested that the U.S. strikes may have killed many
Taliban fighters, as well.
Based on the information that I have, American drones have attacked the Taliban and
the Daesh fighters while they were fighting each other in Achin district, said Zahir, the

elder, who, like many Afghans, uses one name. I can say huge numbers of Daesh and
Taliban fighters have been killed, because both groups fighters were gathered in one
area.
According to the Long War Journal, a Web site that monitors conflicts, Zaman was the
deputy leader of the Islamic States Khorasan chapter. Afghan intelligence officials
identified Zaman as the groups military operations deputy.
Previously, Zaman had led the Pakistani Talibans operations in Pakistans Orakzai
tribal area, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal, which monitors violence in
the region.
The Pakistani Taliban has been badly weakened over the past year because of
defections and an ongoing Pakistani military operation. But one of Pakistans most
wanted militants, Pakistani Taliban commander Mullah Fazlullah, remains at large.
Fazlullah, the mastermind of a gruesome attack on a school in Peshawar in December,
is thought to reside in Afghanistan. Both U.S and Afghan military commanders have
said they are searching for him.
sudarsan.raghavan@washpost.com
tim.craig@washpost.com
Craig reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. Mohammad Sharif in Kabul and Haq
Nawaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this report.
Read more:
Afghan forces straining to keep the expanding Taliban at bay
Frustrated Afghans wonder who is in charge

After suffering under the Taliban, an Afghan minority faces new threats
Meet the shadowy figure recruiting for the Islamic State in Afghanistan
Story goes here

Sudarsan Raghavan has been The Post's Kabul bureau chief since 2014. He
was previously based in Nairobi and Baghdad for the Post.

Tim Craig is The Posts bureau chief in Pakistan. He has

also covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and within the District of
Columbia government.
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