Hafez Saeed was the leader of ISIS in the “so-called Khorasan state”, according to Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS), referring to an old term to describe Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He was killed along with 30 other militants as they gathered in Achin district of Nangarhar province late on Friday, the intelligence agency said. It did not give any further details about the air strike.

Saeed, a Pakistani, was among a small but increasing number of senior Taliban militants who have switched allegiance to ISIS in Afghanistan.

Such figures have been targets for U.S drone strikes, which have killed three other ISIS commanders in the same area in the past week, including Shahidullah Shahid and Gul Zaman.

After pushing out the Taliban insurgents, ISIS fighters have in the past two months gained ground in several districts of Nangarhar province, which shares a long and porous border with lawless areas inside Pakistan.

Achin fell to the ISIS militants last month after heavy clashes with the Taliban.