US announces death of ISIS media leader in Afghanistan

The military has confirmed the death of a senior member and the destruction of a media hub of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria-Khorasan (ISIS-K), the Afghanistan branch of the terrorist group.

A June 3 airstrike in Achin, Nangarhar province, killed Jawad Khan, the senior director of ISIS-K media production, and destroyed a major media production hub for the group, disrupting its connections to ISIS’s main branch in Syria, according to a Friday statement.

Khan’s removal “will deprive the group of an experienced media production director and skilled propagandist,” U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said.

{mosads}Commander Gen. John Nicholson said the death “will disrupt the ISIS-K network, degrade their recruitment process and hinder their attempts to conduct international operations.”

“There is no safe haven for ISIS-K in Afghanistan. With our Afghan partners we will continue to aggressively target ISIS-K and defeat them,” Nicholson added.

The statement said there were no civilian casualties associated with the strike.

U.S. forces tout the death as reports Friday indicate the Pentagon will send 4,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan — adding to the roughly 8,400 already there — to break a stalemate in the 16-year war with the Taliban and al Qaeda and newer terrorist groups including ISIS.

The Pentagon has since pushed back on those reports and said a decision has not yet been made. 

The announcement comes the same day that Russia said it may have killed the leader of ISIS in an air strike in Raqqa, Syria, last month.