Kabul, April 15 (RHC)-- At least 40 people have been killed in a new U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan's troubled eastern province of Nangarhar. The aerial assaults took place on Thursday night in the Achin district of the province, which is located 120 kilometers east of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Local Afghan officials said that those killed in the aerial attack were members of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which has gained a foothold in Nangarhar in recent months.

Meanwhile, a Kabul-based U.S. military general claimed on Thursday that the nascent presence of Daesh in Afghanistan has dwindled since the U.S. military stepped up strikes on militant hideouts in the troubled region. U.S. Brigadier General Charles Cleveland told reporters that an estimated 3,000 Daesh fighters are operating across Afghanistan.

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency regularly uses drones for airstrikes and spying missions in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border. Washington has also been conducting targeted killings through remotely-controlled armed drones in Somalia and Yemen.