NANGARHAR, Afghanistan -- Afghan troops killed a key "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) commander in Kot District, Nangarhar Province, International Business Times reported July 26, citing Afghan officials.
The deceased ISIL commander, Saad al-Emirati, was one of the founding members of the group's Afghanistan-Pakistan branch and led several terrorist attacks, according to Attahullah Khogyani, a spokesman for Nangarhar's governor.
Afghan special forces killed al-Emirati and about 120 other militants in an overnight raid in Kot District July 24, one day after an ISIL suicide bombing killed at least 80 people in Kabul.
Afghan security forces have killed 654 Taliban and ISIL militants in Nangarhar Province since May, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.