Drone kills veteran Afghan militant with suspected IS links, officials say

A drone strike in Afghanistan killed six people on Monday including a veteran militant suspected of having defected to Islamic State from the Taliban, senior Afghan officials in Helmand province said.

A former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Mullah Abdul Rauf has been influential in Afghanistan's jihadi movement for more than a decade. The US-led coalition in Afghanistan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The police chief and the deputy governor in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand both said Rauf was killed. Police chief Nabi Jan Mullahkhel said Rauf was travelling in a car when the drone attacked. The other casualties included his brother-in-law and four Pakistanis, Mullahkhel said.

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