Daesh’s purported leader in Afghanistan, Abu Sayed Orakzai, also known as Sad Arhabi, was killed in an airstrike on Saturday night, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) confirmed Sunday. 

According to officials, Orakzai was killed along with 10 other Daesh fighters in Nangarhar. 

The airstrike was carried out against Jungle village in Khogyani district during an operation against two local Daesh strongholds. 

Officials did not say whether the airstrike had been carried out by the Afghan Air Force or foreign forces.

However, the group’s weapons cache was also destroyed in the airstrike, officials said. 

This was the third Daesh leader in Afghanistan to be killed in less than two years.

Orakzai succeed Abdul Hasib Logari in April last year, who had in turn succeeded Hafiz Saeed Khan who died in a US drone strike in late 2016. 

Daesh has over the past two years entrenched itself in Nangarhar despite a concerted effort by both government and US Forces to eliminate the group in the province. 

The group has been increasingly active in the eastern province and is often behind deadly attacks in the country – particularly in Jalalabad and Kabul. 

Last week, the group claimed responsibility for the rocket attack against the Presidential Palace and also for the deadly suicide bombing against the Mawoud Academy recently – killing more than 50 students, all under the age of 20.