The Pentagon said in a statement on Friday that Abu Sayed was killed in a July 11 airstrike in Afghanistan's northern Kunar province. The raid killed other so-called "Islamic State" (IS) jihadis too.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis termed Sayed's killing a significant achievement.
"You kill a leader of one of these groups and it sets them back," Mattis told reporters. "It is obviously a victory on our side in terms of setting them [IS] back. It's the right direction," he added.
Pentagon officials say the group now numbers fewer than 1,000 in Afghanistan.
Read: 'China and Russia want US out of Afghanistan'
US and Afghan forces had also killed Sayed's two predecessors – Hafiz Saeed in July 2016, and Abdul Hasib in April this year.
At the time, the US military had said Hasib's death would "help reach our goal of destroying them in 2017."
"We will continue until they are annihilated. There is no safe haven for ISIS-K in Afghanistan," said US General John Nicholson, who leads US forces in Afghanistan, referring to the jihadi group's operations in its so-called "Khorasan province" that encompasses a historic region covering Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of Iran.
Read: Khorasan – Examining a jihadist myth
Taliban still a major threat
Last month, the Pentagon announced it would send some 4,000 additional US troops to Afghanistan. The latest wave of troops will mainly be deployed to train and advise Afghan forces, following warnings by top US commanders in the region that the local military was facing a resurgent Taliban and a rising threat posed by IS.
Reports of IS presence in Afghanistan emerged in early 2015. In 2014, the Afghan government and US military officials acknowledged that the terror group was recruiting fighters in eastern Afghanistan, using the power vacuum in the Taliban leadership. But in the past few months, the Taliban, which as a group is at odds with IS, has made significant gains in Afghanistan. Security experts consider Taliban to be a much bigger threat to the stability of Afghanistan and Pakistan than IS.
Despite the fact that IS presence in Afghanistan seems quite limited, there is a possibility that the militant group is getting assistance, and possibly fighters, from neighboring Pakistan. The Islamic country is considered a breeding ground for Sunni militant groups. Afghan authorities have repeatedly accused Islamabad of supporting the Taliban and other militant groups and sending them into Afghanistan to destabilize the government.
Read: Is Turkey's Erdogan seeking a leading role in Afghanistan?
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The endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Militants target Kabul's safest area
A massive truck bomb killed at least 90 people in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on May 31, 2017. The target of the attack was Kabul's heavily fortified diplomatic area in the "Green Zone." The German Embassy in the area was extensively damaged. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Taliban and the "Islamic State" (IS) have staged large attacks in the city in the past.
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The endless battle for power in Afghanistan
A long series of attacks
The blast in Kabul's diplomatic enclave was the latest in a long line of attacks on the Afghan capital. Earlier in May, eight foreign soldiers were killed in a bomb attack claimed by IS. In March, insurgents attacked an Afghan military hospital in Kabul's diplomatic district, killing 38 people and injuring more than 70 others, mainly patients, doctors and nurses.
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The endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Spring offensive
In April, Afghanistan's Taliban vowed to ramp up assaults on coalition and Afghan security forces, announcing the start of their annual spring offensive. The group said they were changing tactics for this year's operation, naming it "Operation Mansour" after the group's late leader who was killed in 2016 in a US drone strike.
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The endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Trump's Afghanistan policy
US President Donald Trump has yet to announce his Afghanistan policy. Afghanistan expert Michael Kugleman told DW Trump's Afghanistan policy will in many ways be quite similar to that of the Obama administration. "Like Obama, Trump will likely also express support for the idea of reconciliation between the Taliban and the Afghan government," said Kugelman.
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The endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Afghan peace process
But the Taliban have shown no interest in peace talks. Afghanistan observers say it is unlikely that the militant group will engage in any negotiations, as they currently have the upper hand on the battleground. The Taliban now control more Afghan districts than at any other time since 2001.
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The endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Pakistani support
President Ghani said last year his country "no longer expects Pakistan to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table." Experts say Islamabad uses Taliban militants as a proxy force to counter Indian influence in Afghanistan. Former Pakistani Taliban spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan (pictured), was recently captured and pardoned by Islamabad after he accused India of supporting the Taliban.
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The endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Role of the warlords
Apart from the Taliban, the Afghan warlords excercise massive influence in the country. Earlier in May, Hizb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul after a 20-year exile to play an active role in Afghan politics. In September 2016, the Afghan government signed a deal with Hekmatyar in the hope that other warlords and militant groups would seek better ties with Kabul.
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The endless battle for power in Afghanistan
Russian interest in Afghanistan
Russia has increased its involvement in Afghanistan. Moscow had maintained an apparent distance from the Afghan conflict for many years, but a new geopolitical situation is emerging in the region, and it seems that Russia has decided not to remain "neutral" in the protracted conflict. In the past few months, Russia has hosted a number of Afghanistan conferences involving China, Pakistan and Iran.
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The endless battle for power in Afghanistan
An inefficient government
In the midst of an endless battle for power, President Ghani's approval ratings continue to plummet. Rampant corruption in the Afghan government and a long tug-of-war within the US-brokered national unity government has had a negative impact on the government's efforts to eradicate terrorism.
Author: Shamil Shams
shs/ng (AFP, AP, dpa)