ISLAMABAD, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani military said on Thursday that over 300 militants of Islamic State or the Daesh have been arrested, including a local leader.
Army spokesman Lt. General Asim Saleem Bajwa told a news conference that the IS leader for Pakistan Hafiz Omar and 309 of its members, including 25 foreigners of Afghan, Syrian and Iraqi nationalities have been detained across the country.
"There is no organized presence of Daesh in Pakistan and six members of the Pakistani Taliban were the first to switch loyalties to Daesh in January 2015 in Afghanistan and the group now operates on the Afghan side of the border," Bajwa said.
Afghan and the U.S. officials confirmed last month that Hafiz Saeed Khan, IS chief for the so-called Khorasan province that includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, parts of Iran and Central Asia, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Nangarhar province.
Khan earlier headed the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in Orakzai tribal region of Pakistan. The IS leadership in the Middle East had accepted the allegiance of Khan and his supporters.
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