US cites progress against Islamic State in Afghanistan

KABUL – A U.S. military spokesman says Afghan and international forces have reduced the territory controlled by Islamic State militants in Afghanistan by two-thirds and killed around half the affiliate’s fighters in the last two years.

U.S. Navy Cpt. Bill Salvin, a spokesman for the NATO mission to Afghanistan, said Thursday it has carried out 460 airstrikes against terrorists since the start of the year, with drone strikes alone killing more than 200 IS militants.

He said the militant group has an estimated 600 to 800 fighters in two eastern provinces.

The IS affiliate has repeatedly clashed with Afghan forces as well as the Taliban, a much larger and more powerful insurgent group that controls a number of districts across the country.