This is not the first time Hafiz Saeed Khan — a former Pakistani Taliban commander who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in January — has been reported killed. If true, it could represent a major blow to the radical Syria-and-Iraq based Islamists’ ambitions of establishing a strong presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan, an area they call Khorasan.

Khan, who is from the Orakzai tribe in Pakistan, was killed Friday in the Achin district of Nangahar Province, said Asib Sediqqi, a spokesman for the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency.

“Hafiz Saeed was killed in a gathering, an area where they were making plans,” said Sediqqi, adding that the agency’s operatives provided American commanders with the intelligence to launch the airstrike.