Afghan Taliban releases Pakistan chopper crew

A top leader of the so-called Islamic State has been killed in a USA drone strike, according to Pentagon, whose such claims have been denied by the terrorist group.

The Islamic State’s leader in Afghanistan and Pakistan was killed in a U.S. drone strike last month, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Reports suggest that the crew members were handed over to authorities in Kurram Agency on Friday.

Villagers said the helicopter caught fire immediately after touching the ground and all the men onboard survived the accident before they were captured and taken away by unknown armed men. Khan was the leader of ISIS’ Khorasan province, the terror group’s regional branch that operates in Afghanistan.

Khan had been reported dead past year when Afghan intelligence agents claimed he was killed.

Still, worries on ISIS expanding operational reach this week remained heightened, especially as the group had claimed responsibility for an attack on a Pakistani hospital that killed at least 74 people in the southwestern city of Quetta.

There are an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 ISIS fighters in Afghanistan, according to US officials, the Hill reported.

Khan, originally a commander with the Pakistani Taliban, pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014.

Khan was previously a senior commander with the Taliban in Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. A Pakistani Taliban faction also claimed responsibility. He used an Arabic acronym to refer to the Islamic State group.

History and prophecies aside, the attraction of South Asia for Islamic State is obvious enough, due to the many opportunities to recruit existing, well-armed fighters and bomb makers.

But the fledgling IS movement in both Pakistan and Afghanistan faces challenges.

USA military officials have said that there are between 1,500 and 3,000 IS-linked militants in the eastern region, a lot of them former operatives for the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban groups.

Aside from their seizure of several districts of Nangarhar from the Taliban, the newly declared Islamic State loyalists have taken no other major territory in Afghanistan.

Pakistan says it has been a victim of terrorism, much of it from groups based in Afghanistan, for years.

The militant was reported killed by a drone strike in Achin in July 2015 as well. The “province” includes Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of the neighboring countries.

“In Europe, disaffected and disgruntled local Islamists won’t find many enticing options at home”. Khan was then made leader of ISIS in Khorasan.