Pentagon: ISIS leader in Afghanistan killed

“The six member crew of Punjab government helicopter that went missing in Afghanistan on 4th August 2016 has been recovered and arrived in Islamabad today”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan said.

Following the crash, Pakistan’s army chief, General Raheel Sharif had called Commander Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan General Nicolson and had asked him to help in the recovery of the crew members.

Khan was a former member of the Pakistani branch of the Taliban, but had sworn allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.

According to reports, the crew has reached Islamabad. The Afghan government also initiated an operation for their rescue.

Afghan authorities erroneously believed Saeed had been killed in another strike in July 2015, when a USA drone targeted dozens of IS-linked cadres in restive Nangarhar province, close to the Pakistani border.

Earlier, at least seven people were being held hostage by Afghan Taliban after a Punjab government helicopter made an emergency landing in Afghanistan over unknown reasons on Thursday.

The Punjab government MI-17 chopper made an emergency landing in the Taliban-controlled district of Logar province on August 4 while flying to Russian Federation for overhauling.

Six Pakistanis and a Russian pilot, who were captured by militants in a Taliban-controlled district, were handed over to authorities in Pakistan’s Kurram Agency on Friday, Radio Free Europe quoted the intelligence officials as saying. However, some residents in the area said the Taliban torched the chopper after it crashed. In May, a U.S. drone killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the Afghan Taliban leader, in a strike in Pakistan.