Homeland Security News

The head of Islamic State in Afghanistan, Abdul Hasib, was killed in an operation on April 27 conducted jointly by Afghan and U.S. Special Forces in the eastern province of Nangarhar, U.S. and Afghan officials said on Sunday.

Hasib, appointed last year after his predecessor Hafiz Saeed Khan died in a U.S. drone strike, is believed to have ordered a series of high profile attacks including one in March 8 on the main military hospital in Kabul, a statement said.

Last month, a Pentagon spokesman said Hasib had probably been killed during the raid by U.S. and Afghan special forces in Nangarhar during which two U.S. army Rangers were killed, but prior to Sunday's announcement there had been no confirmation.

"This successful joint operation is another important step in our relentless campaign to defeat ISIS-K in 2017," the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Nicholson said in a statement from U.S. military headquarters in Kabul.

Read more:  Reuters

Pakistan said Sunday its forces killed at least 50 Afghan troops and destroyed five checkpoints in clashes along the disputed border two days earlier, while Afghanistan dismissed the account, saying only two border police and a civilian were killed.

The two armies traded fire Friday around the Chaman border crossing, which has been closed by Pakistan, stranding people on both sides. The clashes, which ended after a few hours when local commanders contacted each other via an emergency hotline, marked a dangerous escalation between the two U.S. allies.

The two uneasy neighbors share a porous 2,200-kilometer (1,375-mile) border and have long traded allegations of allowing their border regions to be used by militant groups.

Pakistani Maj. Gen. Nadeem Ahmad told reporters at the crossing that two Pakistani soldiers were killed in Friday’s fighting and another nine were wounded. He said around 100 Afghan forces were wounded.

Read more:  AP

At least two people were killed and six injured when multiple Islamic State suicide bombers attacked a base in northern Iraq where U.S. military advisers are stationed, security sources said on Sunday.

In addition, two of the militants died when they detonated their vests at the entrance to the K1 base overnight, and three more were killed by Kurdish peshmerga forces who control the Kirkuk area where it is situated.

"They were wearing uniforms like the Kurdish peshmerga and had shaved their beards to look like us," one officer told Reuters.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying it had killed and wounded dozens of "crusaders and apostates", referring to the peshmerga and Western military advisers.

Iraqi forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition are fighting to dislodge Islamic State from Mosul, 140 km northwest of Kirkuk, but large pockets of territory remain under militant control, including Hawija, which is near the targeted base.

Read more:  Reuters

Islamist militants of the Boko Haram group have released 82 schoolgirls from a group of 276 they abducted in north-eastern Nigeria three years ago, the president's office says.

They were handed over in exchange for Boko Haram suspects after negotiations.

The girls will be received by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Sunday, a statement said.

The abduction of the so-called "Chibok girls" triggered a global outcry and sparked a huge social media campaign.

Before the latest release, about 195 of the girls were still missing.

The number of Boko Haram suspects released by authorities remains undisclosed.

Read more:  BBC News

Agreement has been reached to evacuate some wounded fighters from the hardline Islamist group formerly known as Nusra Front from the Yarmouk refugee camp in the southern suburbs of Damascus to Idlib, Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar TV reported on Sunday.

The agreement represents the second phase of an earlier deal to evacuate people from two towns besieged by rebels, and two towns besieged by pro-government forces, the first phase of which was implemented last month, al-Manar reported.

Source:  Reuters