--- title: U.S. Forces Confirm Death of ISIS Leader in Afghanistan description: The head of the Islamic State (ISIS) branch in Afghanistan, Abu Saad Orakzai, was killed following a raid in Nangarhar province canonical: https://time.com/5385326/us-isis-leader-death-abu-saad-orakzai/ author: Laignee Barron article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-03T09:07:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:19:25.141Z article:section: World og:title: U.S. Forces Confirm Death of ISIS Leader in Afghanistan og:description: Abu Saad Orakzai is the third ISIS leader in Afghanistan killed by U.S. forces since 2016 og:url: https://time.com/5385326/us-isis-leader-death-abu-saad-orakzai/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3a15b350daa8201/69893951656a3f3062bd5602/gettyimages-140238115.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: U.S. Army sniper scans a village in Afghanistan for Taliban activity. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Forces Confirm Death of ISIS Leader in Afghanistan twitter:description: Abu Saad Orakzai is the third ISIS leader in Afghanistan killed by U.S. forces since 2016 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3a15b350daa8201/69893951656a3f3062bd5602/gettyimages-140238115.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. Forces Say They Have Killed the Leader of ISIS in Afghanistan by [Laignee Barron](/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron Sep 3, 2018 9:07 AM CUT  A U.S. Army sniper scans a village in the Sherzad district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. A U.S. Army sniper scans a village in the Sherzad district of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.Stocktrek Images/Getty Images by [Laignee Barron](/author/laignee-barron/) ## Laignee Barron Sep 3, 2018 9:07 AM CUT U.S. forces have killed the self-proclaimed leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) branch in Afghanistan, according to a [statement](https://rs.nato.int/news-center/press-releases/2018-press-releases/us-forces-in-afghanistan-strike-islamic-state-leader-maintain-pressure-on-terror-network.aspx "undefined") posted Sunday by the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. During an Aug. 25 strike on Nangarhar province near the Pakistan border, U.S. forces said they targeted and killed Abu Saad Orakzai. He is the third leader of the Islamic State–Khorasan group to have been killed by U.S. forces since July 2016, according to the statement. “America and her allies are in Afghanistan to maintain pressure on the networked, trans-regional terrorists attempting to plot, resource and direct attacks from here,” said U.S. Army Gen.Scott Miller, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. “This is only part of the coalition’s work towards and Afghan security solution, but it is a vital part.” Miller took over the post from Army Gen. John Nicholson on Sunday. Orakzai, also known as Abu Saad Erhabi, was the emir of the Islamic State–Khorasan, the ISIS affiliate operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was believed to have led a [force of 2,000 fighters](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/isis-loses-its-fourth-afghan-leader-in-less-than-18-months-w8np97zz9 "undefined"), according to the _Times_. The National Directorate of Security in Kabul had previously reported that Orakzai was among 10 people killed in a ground and air operation by Afghan and foreign forces. The U.S. military did not confirm the senior terrorist leader was targeted in the operation until Sunday. Orakzai’s predecessor, [Abdul Hasib](http://time.com/4770170/islamic-state-afghan-leader-killed/ "undefined"), was killed in a raid in Afghanistan last year, about nine months after the U.S. confirmed the faction’s former leader [Hafiz Saeed Khan](http://time.com/4005860/bollywood-film-banned-hafiz-saeed-pakistan-india/ "undefined") had been killed in an airstrike. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5385326/us-isis-leader-death-abu-saad-orakzai/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5385326/us-isis-leader-death-abu-saad-orakzai/"},"headline":"U.S. Forces Say They Have Killed the Leader of ISIS in Afghanistan","datePublished":"2018-09-03T09:07:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:19:25.141Z","description":"Abu Saad Orakzai is the third ISIS leader in Afghanistan killed by U.S. forces since 2016","url":"https://time.com/5385326/us-isis-leader-death-abu-saad-orakzai/","keywords":["Afghanistan","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3a15b350daa8201/69893951656a3f3062bd5602/gettyimages-140238115.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laignee Barron","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laignee-barron/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb3a15b350daa8201/69893951656a3f3062bd5602/gettyimages-140238115.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Army sniper scans a village in Afghanistan for Taliban activity.","caption":"U.S. Army sniper scans a village in Afghanistan for Taliban activity.","creditText":"Stocktrek Images/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/afghanistan/","name":"Afghanistan"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5385326/us-isis-leader-death-abu-saad-orakzai/","name":"U.S. Forces Say They Have Killed the Leader of ISIS in Afghanistan"}}]}] ```