The US has confirmed that the leader of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan and Pakistan was killed in a drone strike last month.

Hafiz Saeed Khan is the leader of IS in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Photo:SITEINTELGROUP

"I can confirm that the ISIS leaderHafiz Saeed Khan and his senior commanders and fighters were killed in a US drone strike on July 26 in Kot district,Nangarhar, Afghanistan",Reutersquoted Mr. Omar Zakhilwal, Afghanistan's Ambassador to Pakistan, as saying yesterday. He mentioned another name for the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS).

Pentagon spokesman Gordon Trowbridge later confirmed Khan's death. Mr. Trowbridge said the drone strike was part of a joint operation between the US and Afghan special forces against IS in southern Nangarhar province. Trowbridge said the strike took place in the Achin district, contradicting Ambassador Zakhilwal's statement.

The operation comes three days after IS carried out its deadliest attack in Afghanistan, killing 80 people and wounding 230.

Khan was a former member of the Pakistani Taliban, who pledged allegiance to IS in the Middle East. It was previously reported that Khan had died last year, but his death was never confirmed.

Khan's death is a blow to IS as it tries to expand its heartland in Syria and Iraq into Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is the second time the US has killed a prominent militant in the region in as many months. In May, a US drone killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, in an airstrike in Pakistan.

Location of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. Graphics: BBC

According to VNE