JALALABAD - Daesh fighters in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar have reportedly escaped to mountains after certain senior commanders of the group were eliminated over the past few days, Chairman of Senate Fazl Hadi Muslimyar said.

Expressing deep concerns over recent activities of Daesh in Nangarhar, Muslimyar stated on Sunday that the recent airstrikes against Daesh had considerably restricted the group in the eastern province.

Hafiz Saeed, chief of the Daesh affiliate group in Afghanistan, or the so-called Khurasan, was recently killed in an air strike in Nangarhar, the Afghan intelligence agency said on Saturday.

Saeed, who was a former leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) before pledging allegiance to Daesh, was killed along with 30 others in the air strike in Achin district of Nangarhar.

However, the group is now said to have been dispersed as the fighters hiding into the mountains.

"Daesh have suffered huge a loss as a result of recent airstrikes, fighting with the Taliban and special raids by the Afghan forces," Muslimyar said. "These fighters are now fleeing to the mountains."

Saeed's killing was the third and the biggest attack against Daesh in less than a week after Gull Zaman, the group's number 2 in Afghanistan, was killed along with his deputy, Jahanyar, in a drone strike in the same district.

Also, Mawlavi Shahidullah Shahid, a former Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman and the first one to pledge allegiance to Daesh in Afghanistan, was killed last week in a similar attack in Nangarhar. TTP sacked him last year in October after he sworn allegiance to Daesh along with five other commanders of the group.

Meanwhile, the governor of Nangarhar, Salim Khan Kunduzi, accused Pakistani terror groups of backing Daesh in Afghanistan.

"Terrorists are flocking to Afghanistan from across the border to help Daesh," Kunduzi stated.

Daesh, which has seized large cities in Iraq and Syria, have been dramatically growing in Afghanistan as scores of Taliban and other militants have sworn allegiance to the extremist group.

Recently, the Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI) announced the establishment of a joint unit aimed at heightening coordination among security institutions to more effectively combat Daesh affiliates in Afghanistan. (Tolonews)