The leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group in Afghanistan was killed by airstrikes over the weekend along with 10 other people, government officials said Sunday, according to AFP.
The country’s intelligence agency said Saad Arhabi died in a joint operation with coalition forces late Saturday in the group's eastern stronghold in Nangarhar province near the border with Pakistan.
"The Emir of Daesh in Afghanistan along with 10 others was killed," said a statement by the National Directorate of Security, calling the group by an Arabic acronym.
Arhabi is the fourth leader of ISIS's Afghan branch to be killed since the group first emerged in the country around 2014.
In July of last year, U.S. forces killed Abu Sayed, a senior member of ISIS’ Afghanistan branch, known as ISIS-K.
In April of that year, the U.S. carried out a massive air strike against ISIS in Afghanistan, killing at least 36 terrorists.
The head of ISIS in Afghanistan, Abdul Hasib, was also killed by Afghan and U.S. Special Forces in the eastern province of Nangarhar that month.
The airstrikes this weekend also destroyed a large number of weapons, ammunition and explosives, according to AFP.
Provincial governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani confirmed the leader's death, also citing a joint operation involving strikes.
U.S. forces in Afghanistan confirmed they had conducted a strike in the location described by Afghan officials, which "targeted a senior leader of a designated terrorist organization".
ISIS has a relatively small but potent presence in Afghanistan, mainly in Nangarhar but more recently in the northern province of Jowzjan.
Hours before the raid the group claimed a deadly suicide attack which appeared to target a sit-in protest outside an election commission office in the city of Jalalabad. Two people were killed.