Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security said on Saturday that Afghan special forces had killed Assadullah Orakzai, a senior intelligence leader for the Islamic State.
Orakzai was suspected of involvement in numerous deadly attacks against Afghan military and civilian targets, the agency said, adding that he was killed in an operation near the city of Jalalabad.
The announcement comes as Afghanistan’s government and the Taliban have announced a three-day cease-fire for the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday starting Friiday.
The United Nations recently warned that IS seeks to recruit more fighters from among opponents of the US-Taliban peace deal signed in February.
The deal is seen as a first step toward intra-Afghan peace talks, that are expected after the completion of the prisoner exchange between Kabul and the Taliban. To date, Kabul has freed about 4,000 militants and the Taliban nearly 800 government forces.
The deal also included a Taliban pledge to prevent Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups from using Afghanistan to stage attacks against the United States and its allies.
