Head of Islamic State in Afghanistan killed

Afghan commandos prepare to launch mortar shells on an Islamic State (IS) militant stronghold in Achin district of Nangarhar, eastern Afghanistan on April 14, 2017. The US military’s largest non-nuclear bomb killed dozens of Islamic State militants as it smashed their mountain hideouts, Afghan officials said, ruling out any civilian casualties despite the weapon’s destructive power. The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb — dubbed the “Mother Of All Bombs” — was unleashed in combat for the first time, hitting IS positions in eastern Nangarhar province on April 13.Noorrullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images

The head of Islamic State in Afghanistan, Abdul Hasib, has been killed, the government has said.

Hasib was killed in an operation led by Afghan special forces in the eastern province of Nangarhar, President Ashraf Ghani announced.

He was appointed last year after his predecessor Hafiz Saeed Khan died in a US drone strike and is understood to have ordered a series of high profile attacks.

One was on the main military hospital in Kabul in March by a group of militants dressed as doctors.

The US and Afghan forces, backed by drone strikes and other air support, have mounted a number of operations against IS this year in which dozens of fighters, mainly in Nangarhar on the Pakistan border.

Defeating IS in Afghanistan remains a top priority for the US which in April dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on a network of caves and tunnels killing 94 fighters, including four commanders.