News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The head of Islamic State in Afghanistan has been killed - according to an Afghan government statement.

Abdul Hasib was killed in a raid in the early hours of last Thursday in Nangarhar province, in which 50 U.S special forces and 40 Afghan commandos raided his compound.

Ashraf Ghani, president of Afghanistan confirmed Hasib's death in a statement following speculation the ISIS boss had been taken out in the operation.

Hasib was appointed last year following the death of his predecessor Hafiz Saeed in a U.S drone strike.

(Image: Barcroft Media) (Image: Barcroft Media)

He is believed to have ordered a series of high profile attacks including one in March on the main military hospital in Kabul by a group of militants disguised as doctors.

A joint US-Afghan army statement released after the operation said troops had been involved in an 'intense' three-hour firefight.

The statement said: "Within a few minutes of landing, our combined force came under intense fire from multiple directions and well-prepared fighting positions.

"Nevertheless, our forces successfully closed on the enemy, killed several high-level ISIS leaders and upwards of 35 fighters."

Last month, a Pentagon spokesman said Hasib had probably been killed during a raid by U.S. and Afghan special forces in Nangarhar during which two U.S. army Rangers - Joshua Rodgers and Cameron Thomas - were killed.

On April 13, American forces dropped one of the largest conventional bombs ever used in combat on what they described as a tunnel complex used by Islamic State militants in Nangarhar's Achin district.

Achin is separated from Pakistan by a range of high mountains, one of the areas where Taliban and al Qaeda fighters fled when the US first intervened in the country in late 2001.

Now US officials say militants affiliated to the Middle East-based Islamic State network have begun fortifying caves in the region in an effort to hold off joint operations by Afghan and US forces.