Top ISIS leader killed in Afghanistan. Washington Post.

An Afghan solider checks a civilian at a checkpoint. Washington Post/Reuters. 

Shahidullah Shahid, a top ISIS commander in Afghanistan, has been killed in a drone strike. Washington Post. Shahid used to be the top spokesman for the Pakistani branch of the Taliban, but defected to ISIS last year. After joining ISIS he became their top spokesman in the region and was a major leader of the Khoransan chapter, which is based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The strike, which has not been confirmed by either the Islamic State or the United States government, was based on intelligence from Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security. Another high ranking ISIS leader, Gull Zaman, was killed in Afghanistan earlier in the week. The attacks come on the eve of peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. 

My Comment:

Sounds like the United States is trying to nip any ISIS insurgency in Afghanistan or Pakistan in the bud. Taking out these two leaders won't stop ISIS but it will defiantly hurt them. Had we done something similar a few years ago in Syria, then perhaps ISIS would not be the threat they are today.

Taking out a major spokesman is huge as well. Shahid was in charge of recruitment and propaganda and his loss will hurt ISIS's ability to gain soldiers and spread their message. ISIS thrives on propaganda but this will work as propaganda for ISIS's enemies in the region. If they can hit Shahid then they can hit anyone.

Killing these commanders may also stem the tide of defections from the Taliban. After all, why join ISIS if all it does is put a target on your back? ISIS has yet to have the kind of military success that they have had in other places and aren't in the same league as the Taliban is in Afghanistan. Without success there doesn't really seem to be a point in risking your life just so you can get hit by drone strikes. Fighters that may have considered joining ISIS may now decide to just stick with the Taliban. That's probably not a good thing as far as the United States is concerned, but alas, what other options are there?  

I think we have a decent chance of preventing ISIS from getting a major foothold in Afghanistan. If we keep killing their leaders in Afghanistan, we can keep them from gathering forces and winning battles. And, unlike in Iraq or Syria, we have more reliable allies. The Afghan security forces aren't great, but at least they fight some of the time. 

Of course there is something to be said for letting ISIS getting a toehold in Afghanistan if they are going to spend a significant time fighting the Taliban. We have been at war with the Taliban since 2001 and the war doesn't look like it will end anytime soon. Having ISIS and the Taliban duke it out might finally weaken the Taliban enough that we can defeat them entirely. Of course that depends on both groups spending more time fighting each other then fighting the Afghan security forces, and I don't think we can rely on it.

The best option is still to destroy ISIS wherever it pops up, If we have the intelligence to target these airstrikes then we should probably take them. But if that isn't enough to stop them, than at least we know that they will fight the Taliban as well. The enemy of our enemy is not our friend in this case, but that doesn't mean we can't watch them fight.

Another possible consequence in ISIS showing up in Afghanistan is that the Taliban may be more willing to come to some kind of agreement with the Afghan government to end the war. That seems pretty unlikely to me, but the peace talks are happening. I am guessing that if some kind of deal is reached, ISIS's ranks will be swollen with new recruits that aren't happy that the war is over. Instead of a three way battle, we may just end up trading one insurgency for another...