reported that Libyan forces claimed they retook control of part of Sirte after fierce fighting against ISIL militants. In July 2016, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said ISIL fighters in Libya were facing the "distinct possibility" of defeat in their last stronghold and are likely to scatter elsewhere in the country and the region; At the beginning of 2016, ISIL was believed to have more than 5,000 fighters in Libya, by August 2016, estimates said there could be less than 1,000 left, and by 9 August, only 350 ISIL fighters remained alive in Sirte. U.S. and British special forces were involved in the battle for Sirte: U.S. troops were operating out of a joint operations center on the city's outskirts, their role was limited to supporting forces unity government forces, providing direct, on-the-ground support. On 22 September, Stars and Stripes reported that Since the start of the battle, many ISIL members fled the city, "looking to hide among the population, relocate to other Libyan towns or attempting to leave Libya altogether." Afghanistan The BBC reported that ISIL's announcement of the establishment of its Afghanistan/Pakistan-based Khorasan Province (ISIL-KP) in January 2015, it was the first time that ISIL had officially spread outside the Arab world. Within weeks, the group appeared in at least five provinces in Afghanistan: Helmand, Zabul, Farah, Logar and Nangarhar-trying to establish pockets of territory from which to expand. In the first half of 2015, ISIL-KP managed to capture large parts of territory in eastern Nangarhar province. This became the de facto "capital" principally for two reasons: its proximity to the tribal areas of Pakistan, home of ISIL-KP's top leaders; and the presence of some people who follow a similar Salafi/Wahhabi interpretation of Islam to ISIL. ISIL-KP is also trying to get a foothold in northern Afghanistan, where it aims to link up with Central Asian, Chechen and Chinese Uighur militants; IS's numerical strength inside Afghanistan vary, ranging from 1,000 to 5,000. In February 2015, ISIL-KP deputy commander Mullah Abdul Rauf Khadim was killed in a U.S. drone strike along with 5 others, his successor met the same fate a month later, and since then, the Islamic State has been absent from the southern Afghanistan. A report says that, according to a Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson, in July 2015, a U.S. drone strike killed Shahidullah Shadid, a senior leader of ISIL-KP and 24 other militants, in Nangarhar province in