Former IS-K chief Asif Farooqi killed in Afghanistan

Aslam Farooqi, the former chief of the Islamic State-Khurasan (IS-K), was killed during a shootout in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, a media report said on Monday.

Farooqi, who hailed from Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, was reportedly killed during an investigation against organized kidnappers and criminal mafia, Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune reported.

The investigation resulted in a clash, during which Farooqi was killed along with his aides.

Another set of conflicting reports says that the former IS-K chief was killed as a result of an internal dispute within the organization. Media reports said the body of the IS-K commander will be shifted to his hometown by Tuesday.

Farooqi had made a deal with the Afghan forces during the rule of the Ashraf Ghani government after the fall of the IS-K in Nangarhar province in 2020. He was later replaced as the head of IS-K by Shahab Mahajer.

This is the second high-profile terrorist commander killed during this month.

Earlier, Muhammad Khurassani, the operational commander and the spokesperson for the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was killed in Nangarhar province.

( With inputs from ANI )