At least eleven militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group were killed in an airstrike in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.
According to the local government officials, the militants were killed in Mamand Dara district of Nangarhar on Saturday.
Provincial police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashriqwal confirmed the airstrike was carried out in Mamand Dara on Saturday but did not elaboate further on who carried out the raid.
However, the US forces in Afghanistan have recently stepped up air campaign against the loyalists of the Islamic State besides the militants are targeted by the Afghan forces.
The US Air Force has reportedly dropped 251 bombs and missiles targeting mainly the loyalists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group in Afghanistan during the months of January and February.
According to the data compiled by the Air Force, the airstrikes in the first two months of the year was more than three times the strikes in the same period last year.
The increase in airstrikes followed by President Barack Obama’s grant of authority to launch attacks on Islamic State militants who had gained control over territory in several provinces, including areas in the Tora Bora region, where Osama bin Laden once took refuge.
The authority by Obama to target the ISIS loyalists followed amid concerns that the terror group was gaining foothold in the country amid efforts to consolidate operations with the militants in Syria and Iraq.
The coalition officials had earlier estimated around 1,000 to 3,000 Islamic State fighters in eastern Afghanistan are trying to establish a base of operations in the rugged mountains of Nangahar Province.
