The military has taken matters into their own hands and killed an Islamic State leader in an airstrike that was not authorized by the President. This is the second time that this leader is believed to have been killed. It seems this could have been done sooner if Obama had been on board but the military had just had enough and decided that they had to go above his head.
According to Conservative Post,
This week, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed that a U.S. airstrike last month killed Hafiz Sayed Khan, the head of the Islamic State’s branch in Afghanistan.
Khan was killed in the end of July when U.S. and Afghan Special Forces conducted operations against the terror group in southern Nangarhar province, Deputy Secretary Gordon Trowbridge said in his statement.
Khan’s death comes as part of a major effort and partnership to take down the Islamic State, which has become a growing threat in Afghanistan this year. Khan is a former Pakistani Taliban member, and became head of the region’s Islamic State branch in 2015, pledging allegiance to the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Trowbridge confirmed Khan was known to directly participate in attacks against the U.S. and coalition forces. His network terrorized Afghans. The Afghan branch uses Nangarhar to train, equip, disseminate and control fighter pipelines, providing IS commanders with a continuous supply of fighters
“Khan’s death affects recruiting efforts and will disrupt their operations in Afghanistan and the region,” Trowbridge claimed.
Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal also commented on the attacks, confirming the strike also killed several senior Islamic State commanders and fighters.
This is the second time in two years that Khan was believed to be killed by a drone. A claim surfaced last year from Afghan intelligence agents, but the report of his death was never confirmed.
Additionally, this is the second reported death of a high-profile extremist in the region in four months. Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the Afghan Taliban leader, was killed in May.
If Obama would just do his job, then maybe the military would not have been put in a situation like this, forced to disobey the President just to protect the U.S. With this being the second time that Khan has been thought dead, we can only hope it sticks this time. Not to wish any harm on anyone but terrorists like him are dangerous to the U.S. and need to be dealt with accordingly. The military was only doing their job here.