The US military says it believes it has killed a planner for the Afghan branch of the Islamic State group in a drone strike in the east of the country, BBC News reported.

The suspected member of the IS-K group was targeted in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.

Captain Bill Urban of US Central Command said: "The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target. We know of no civilian casualties."

He described it as an "over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation."