The Islamic State has released an audio message that allegedly contains the voice of slain ISIS Afghan leader Hafiz Saeed. The announcement comes as the Afghan Intelligence, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), stated that Saeed had been killed by a U.S. drone strike last Saturday in Nangarhar province.
The U.S. announced that it had conducted an airstrike in Nangarhar province last Saturday, though the actual circumstances were not elaborated upon. However, Abdul Hassib Sediqi, spokesman for the NDS, has stated that despite the absence of photographs or other evidence, Afghan authorities have verified one of the corpses from the attack as belonging to Saeed, according to The Seattle Times.
Nevertheless, the audio recording released by the militant group seems to say otherwise. Posted on known militant websites, the audio recording featured a man speaking in Pashtun, encouraging listeners to take up the cause of the Islamic State. The man speaking in the recording also criticized the Taliban.
Afghan officials have not released an official statement about the insurgent group's claims, however, especially since the audio recording's authenticity cannot be confirmed as of date, reports Khaama Press. Despite the Islamic State group's al-Bayan radio identifying that the voice belongs to Saeed, the audio clip had no time stamps that will date it.
The audio clip seems to have achieved its desired effect, as supporters of the violent group, who have been disenchanted with the latest onslaught and developments in the conflict, have begun raising the black ISIS flag in several extremist-dominated areas in Afghan and Pakistan.
ISIS has tightened its grip on the civilian populace as of late, executing a number of citizens for numerous offenses, from witchcraft, as reported by HNGN, to other Islam-related offenses.
