US airstrike kills top Isis commander in Afghanistan

A key Islamic State (Isis) commander is reportedly among 30 militants killed in a US airstrike in Afghanistan.

Afghan authorities said they assisted in the operation against Hafiz Saeed, a former commander of Pakistan Taliban, in Achin region of Nangarhar province.

US forces confirmed an airstrike took place in the region but did not say if the senior militant was killed.

A statement from the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said: "As a result of efforts made by the NDS, the location of IS fighters' gathering was found and the information was shared with the coalition forces that then carried out an airstrike on them."

"As a result of the airstrike, the leader of Daesh [IS] in Khorasan [historic name for Afghanistan and Pakistan] was killed last night."

Achin, a district bordering Pakistan has become a breeding ground for Islamist militants, especially those belonging to IS.

"With the killings of Hafiz Sayeed, Gul Zaman and Shahidullah Shahid, who were high-profile figures of IS in Afghanistan, we have destroyed the base of IS," Abdul Hassib Sediqi, a spokesperson for the NDS, told the Associated Press.

No photographs of the strike have been released so far but Afghan authorities insisted Sayeed's death was verified.

The Islamist groups have also not released any formal statement regarding the incident as yet. But Abu Talut al-Khurasani, a self-proclaimed IS commander in Afghanistan, wrote to the Wall Street Journal via Twitter that Sayeed's death claim was fabricated.