Two drone strikes targeted militants loyal to Islamic State in Afghanistan on July 7 -- killing between 25 and 49 insurgents, according to differing estimates by Afghan and foreign officials.
An increasing number of militants are pledging allegiance to Islamic State in Afghanistan, making them a target of deadly strikes there by the U.S. unmanned aircraft.
Many are Central Asian extremists who’ve fled a Pakistani military offensive in the North Waziristan tribal region.
Those militants also have found themselves at odds with rival factions of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the Nangarhar Province governor, said 49 militants were killed by drone attacks in the village of Mamd Dara in the Achin district.
But a foreign official, who asked not to be named, said the number of dead was closer to 25.