ISIS Leader in Afghanistan Killed By Drone, According to Pentagon

The Pentagon has reported that senior ISIS leader Hafiz Saeed Khan was killed by U.S. and Afghan Special Operations Forces in an airstrike on July 26 in Afghanistan. Khan was believed to have been killed in 2015 by a drone attack in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province.

"U.S. forces conducted an airstrike targeting Hafiz Saeed Khan, the Islamic State in the Levant-Khorasan emir, in Achin district, Nangarhar province July 26, resulting in his death," Gordon Trowbridge, a deputy press secretary for the Pentagon, said in a statement, ABC News reports.

The airstrike was in response to the Islamic State's horrific attack on a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city, which killed 80 people and injured 230.

The death of the senior ISIS leader will interrupt the Islamic State's operations. "Khan's death affects ISIL-K recruiting efforts and will disrupt ISIL-K's operations in Afghanistan and the region," Trowbridge said, ABC reports. 

An anonymous member of the Afghan Taliban told NBC News that Khan was "known for his harsh policies and ruthlessness."